Becoming Darth Vader
by Asmarath
Summary: Sidious finds Anakin at an early age and decide to make him his future apprentice. Follow Anakin on his journey towards the dark side.
1. Chapter 1: Meeting

**Becoming Darth Vader**

Summary: Sidious founds Anakin at an early age and decide to make him his future apprentice.

Disclaimer: I'dont own Star Wars.

**Chapter 1**

Palpatine, senator of Naboo sat in his shuttle in deep thought; he had recently discovered that his old master Darth Plagueis had succeeded in giving birth to a lifeform by affecting the midichlorians. And said lifeform was now a six years old slave living on the planet of Tatooine, in the outer rim. The anger he is radiating is making the room a few degrees colder, the anger was soon replaced with an ice-cold fury for his previous master. _You were foolish to think that you could keep this from me Plagueis_.

He had made sure that the tusken raiders would come to Mos espa, the city were his soon to be apprentice lives. Through the use of the force he had manipulated the sandpeoples minds to attack the slave boy Anakin Skywalker's mother. Without her, there would be no attachement left for the boy and no reason to stay on that wretched planet. _It will be troublesome to train such a young child, but it is a price im willing to pay to gain such a powerful apprentice. The boys potential is even greater than my own, the sith future lies with this child._

He was broken out of his thoughts by the shuttle going out of hyperspace, now he is in orbit of Tatooine. Sidious used the force to search for the boy and was extremely happy about what he was feeling, anger and hatred sprouted off the boy like a fountain. And he savoured it, drawing upon those negative feelings to fuel his own power. Obviously the death of the boy's mother had helped him get closer to the dark side. _The boy would probably want revenge and with the promise of power, he will be mine. _These thoughts made him cackle, the cackle soon turned into a full-blown laughter. But it was important that he was first to see the boy, therefore he had to hurry.

Suddenly a loud clunk var heard, it came from the shuttle. Sidious had finally arrived on the planet surface. The negative energy the boy produce was getting stronger every second he came closer to the boy. As soon as the shuttle doors opened he started to run towards the location of the boy, a few minutes later he arrived at the house were the deed had been done. Before he entered the house he used the force to search the nearby area for life signs and he only found one. He also discovered that there was no panic or any other emotion which meant that no one had any idea about what had just happened.

The house looked abandoned, it seems like no one has lived there for a while. And the various sandstorms had thumped down the walls and the roof. Sidious pulled back his hood and walked until he stood at the entrance, and what he saw surprised him greatly. The small boy was on his knees besides his now deceased mother and tears was flowing down his cheeks, but that was not what had shocked him. There were two more bodies and they were tusken raiders, from what Sidious could tell the tuskens had died by the breaking of their necks. Their necks were twisted in a unnatural way and the only way to do that is with the force, _did this boy kill his mothers murderers in his anger__**.**_

Sidious approached the boy slowly to not frighten him anymore; when he was a few metres inside the boy slowly bent his head away from his mother towards Sidious. The anger he had felt before had disappeared now, the only feelings the boy had now was sadness and confusion. Before he even realised what he said, he had asked, "Did you kill those tuskens?"

He was greeted with a short and sad, "Yes". Sidious had to fight down the urge to cackle, _this boy will become powerful indeed_.

Then he asked, "Why?"

The boy bent his head back to his mother and answered with anger in his voice, "Because they killed my mother. They deserved it, I hate them!".

Sidious could feel the anger to rise up again from the boy and it made him glee. "Come with me child, come with me and you will be a slave no more. Come with me and I will give you the power to strike back at the tusken raiders".

The boy seemed to really think about it hard and than said, "What about mom?"

Sidious answered with, "She is alive no more, her soul has left her body. All that remains is an empty shell; normaly one would bury their dead ones. Unfortunately we do not have the time to do that, but for some cultures, burning the dead ones is a way to show the deceased great honor."

A few seconds went before an answer came, "Then let's do that."

The boy stood up a walked towards the entrance, before exiting he looked back one last time and with that continued to walk out of the abandoned house. Sidious waited a few seconds before putting the body on fire and than walked out the same way the boy had. While both were standing still and watching the fire the boy said, "I'm Anakin by the way, what is your name?"

_Now is not the time to introduce him to the teachings of the sith_, "My name is Palpatine and I'm a senator from Naboo." Anakin didn't make any sound or movement to show that he heard but he had.

Sidious continued, "We have to leave as soon as possible, I want you to hide somewhere around this area until I come back". Anakin just nodded and ran away to hide himself in an alley. Before doing anything more Sidious pulled his hood back on, he could not let anyone see his face here.

Now there was only one thing left for Sidious to do and that was to visit that toydarian named Watto. It took a few minutes to find his shop, it had closed several hours ago but the toydarian was still in the shop. He used the force to open the lock on the door and then stepped inside.

Watto had obviously heard something because he came flying from another room. "What are you doing, the shop is closed. If you don't leave i'll take this up with the hu..."

Before he could finish that sentence he found himself being strangled by an invisibly hand. Looking up he saw that the man who had entered his shop had a long dark robe with his hood hiding his face. But what had really scared him were the bright yellow eyes staring back at him.

Sidious said, "I want the deactivation codes for the chip in Anakin Skywalker" And to make sure his demand will come true he increased his force choke hold on the toydarian., then releasing him. Watto immediately fell to his knees coughing and holding his throat, "alright... cough... cough... I'll give it to you". He then said a long set of numbers which Sidious programmed into a nearby computer terminal.

When he was finished he turned towards Watto and said, "It would seem the code was correct".

Wattos face lite up a bit and like the greedy person he is, tried to test his luck for a reward. "Y-yes of course, and a little reward would certainly help me keep my mouth shut about this".

Sidious seemed to think about it for a few seconds before answering with his dark and evil voice, "Yes, you do deserve a small reward. And that reward is certain death!"

All Watto saw in the dark was a small blue light and what he could hear was Sidious cackling, before he was hit with the same blue light which he now knew to be lightning. It only took a few seconds for the toydarian to die under the powerful sith lightning of Darth Sidious, Dark lord of the sith.

With his task done he only had to go back and find his future apprentice, and then leave this planet. A few minutes went by and he was now back at the abandoned house, using the force he sensed that Anakin was still hiding at the same place. As if Anakin had used his senses to find him, he came out of his hiding place.

"Come Anakin, it's time to go" Sidious said and started to walk towards his shuttle. Anakin had no time to reply and had to make a small run to keep up. It didn't take long to arrive at the shuttle and both went inside, the shuttle doors closing behind them. Anakin waited in the first room while Sidious ordered the droid to take off, when Sidious came back he found the small boy asleep in one of the chairs.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

AU

Please let me know what you think of it. Chapter 2 is done but I won't release that until I'm done with Chapter 3.


	2. Chapter 2: Master And Apprentice

**Becoming Darth Vader**

Summary: Sidious find Anakin at an early age and decide to make him his future apprentice. M rating to be safe.

Disclaimer: I'dont own Star Wars.

**Chapter 2**

Anakin woke up with a startle, like waking up from a bad dream. He had dreamed about his mother, that she was still with him but now that he was awake, he knew that she was not. After getting his bearings he sat up and looked around, he was in a small room with only one window. The room was so dark that it was difficult to see what was around him. Anakin stood up and walked towards the window and looked out. It was completely dark with a few with dots, and then he knew that he was in space. It was one of his dreams to travel in space but now, he just couldn't care. Suddenly the lights were turned on and a large figure was standing in the doorway.

"How are you feeling?" Palpatine asked with concern in his voice, now Anakin remembered the old man who helped him on Tatooine. Anakin answered, "I'm feeling better, sir. But I'm a bit cold" Palpatine smiled warmly to him, "Space can be a bit cold, but you will get used to it eventually."

Anakin opened his mouth to say something but before he could Palpatine asked, "Do you remember what happened?" His only answer was a low "Yes" Palpatine continued to ask "How did you kill those Tusken raiders?"

He saw a flicker of confusion on the boys face. "I don't know how I did that," he muttered. "I didn't even mean to do it," he explained, suddenly becoming uncertain. "It just happened... somehow."

Palatine found guilty in the boy's voice and he said, "You are young and confused. I will tell you what happened" He paused a bit to think it over and then continued, "You used the power of the force, Anakin. Try and think back to what it felt like"

Anakin shook his head, "I don't want to." he whispered. Suddenly Anakin could feel something in the air, the man before him had turned colder somehow. "You might feel regret for their deaths" he said with a low and casual voice but that was replaced when his voice started to rise. "That emotion is worthless. What you should feel is anger!"

As if remembering something the dark aura that he had unleashed washed away and he knelt before the boy. "Remember what you felt when the tuskens killed your mother, remember your thoughts at that moment" he said with a seductive tone.

Anakin closed his eyes and forced himself to remember, he could see himself going in the building, looking around until he saw them. Two figures standing near the body of his mother, and with that came the feeling. The feeling he could only describe as extreme rage and all of a sudden the tuskens was on their knees holding their throats. After a few seconds two snaps was heard and they fell down on the floor, not moving any more.

Suddenly he opened his eyes and they had great rage in them. "They killed my mother" he spat. "They deserved what happened!"

"Good, Anakin" Palpatine stood up and said with a small smile on his face, "The power of the force will make you strong, trough hate, anger and suffering you will become great" Before he turned around he continued, "If you want to learn the ways of the force, that is?" Somehow Anakin knew that this moment would change his life forever, "I would like that" He answered a bit uncertain, but happy with the choice. Finally he could become something more than just a slave. Turning around, Palpatine gesticulated with his hand, "Come, it's time that you eat something"

The dark side surrounding Anakin slowly receded and he nodded, "When you have eaten something we will continue your training" Palpatine elaborated "But first we must discuss our different positions, when we are alone you must refer to me as your master. However when we are in the company of someone else, you must call me Palpatine. In turn your title will be apprentice, a learner"

"I understand...Master" Anakin answered a bit uncertain and Palpatine responded"Good, my apprentice"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

When breakfast was over Palpatine ordered Anakin to sit on the ground facing him, "With the force you can do many things" he explained "such as you can use the force to push or draw something towards you, you can find someone by searching for their force signature" Palpatine continued "or you could read the mind of another." There was a moment of silence when he stopped speaking before Anakin asked with an amazed voice, "Could you really read the mind of anyone?"

"It is possible but there are techniques to shield yourself from an attack on your mind" he explained "I will teach you these things, and there are higher..." Palpatine thought for a moment "mysteries to be learned and in time you will know them"

Anakin just nodded, quite overwhelmed with what he just had heard. "The first you will learn is to find someone by their force signature, close your eyes and remember the rage you felt earlier" Anakin did as instructed; with his eyes closed everything was dark. After a few minutes of concentrating on the anger he felt the emotion bubbling up to the surface. Anakin opened his eyes and nodded to his new master that he was ready to continue.

"Now try to hold on to that feeling and then try to feel what is around you" Palpatine instructed. As instructed Anakin did so, it felt only as a few seconds had past, but in truth half an hour had past. It was then Anakin felt a tingling sensation all of a sudden and in his mind he was able to sense that someone was sitting before him. It was like everything around him was connected, the chairs, the table, the walls, everything. But it was nothing compared to his new master, who practically radiated of the force.

Palpatine fought down the urge to glee, he knew the boy had succeeded in finding him. Well he was standing right before the boy but, it was a great feat for someone so young and on their first try.

Opening his eyes and bringing a smile to his face Anakin said with astonishment"I could feel you master and everything else in the room. It was like everything in here was connected" Looking at the now happy boy Palpatine answered "Good my boy, very well done. The reason you could feel the things around you is because the force exists in all things" he continued "When you're older and more experienced you'll be able to manipulate these objects"

Anakin just nodded and thought back to the beginning of the lesson were Palpatine explained the possibilities of the force. _With help from my new master, I'll never have to suffer the loss of someone I love again, Anakin thought._

"How come I could sense you after I got angry and not before?" Anakin wondered,

"Like I already said, you're young. Manipulating the force at your age is very difficult and you should be proud of what you achieved today" Palpatine answered "The reason you could sense me, the reason you killed those tuskens is because you fuelled the force with passion."

Bringing a gleeful smile to his face he continued "The stronger, darker emotions you release such as anger, hate and fear will empower you" It was this moment that made Anakin realise that the man before him hade evil inside of him. So he asked "But aren't those emotions evil?"

"Remember this well my apprentice, evil is a word the ignorant and the weak use. What these emotions do is help you to survive; they help you release the hidden power inside you" In a more serious voice he continued "But you must always have control over these emotions, your anger and hate must be focused and controlled lest it be turned against you"

"I understand master, I'll remember this well" the apprentice responded "See to it that you do my apprentice, or it could have catastrophic consequences" Palpatine warned, leaving it at that. "Now we should be close to our destination, you can rest now or continue with your force exercise while I finish the last preparations" The Sith Lord told his new apprentice and then strolled out of the room, leaving his new Sith apprentice alone to his own musings.

After leaving his new apprentice, Palpatine went down the corridor and took a left followed by a right. Then he continued down to the end of the corridor and entered the last room to the right. Pulling up the hood of his sith robe to mask his face, and then punched in a few buttons on the holoprojector.

A few seconds later a bowing male human with dark hair could be seen from the projector. "You summoned me, master" the man said.

"Rise, my friend" The Sith Lord commanded.

The image distorted for a second when the man pulled himself up, now standing before him Palpatine could see the young man clearly; he was a bit scruffy looking.

"I have a new assignment for you; I have found a force sensitive boy who will need training and education."

The still unknown man seemed a bit uncertain but remained silent. "As I have...other commitments as you know. I won't have the time to train the boy as things are now" Palpatine explained.

"I want you to educate the boy in the same way you were taught. As the boy has almost no previous training, it must involve force studies, political science and the study of histories and cultures of different worlds" he informed "Not to mention physical activities"

"You mean that the boy should have the same training as that of a Jedi Youngling?" The man asked.

Frowning Palpatine responded "Yes, of course his understanding of the Jedi will be influenced to our point of view, I expect to see you at these coordinates in one days time" And then shut off his projector.

After hearing that the man he only knew as "The Master" disappeared from his holoprojector. The dark-haired man left the room to prepare for his departure.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

AU

Anyone who can guess who the dark haired man is? If you get it right I'll give you a cookie.


	3. Chapter 3: New Beginning

**Becoming Darth Vader**

Summary: Sidious find Anakin at an early age and decide to make him his future apprentice. M rating to be safe.

Disclaimer: I'dont own Star Wars.

**Chapter 3**

Immediately after Palpatine left the room, Anakin still sitting down, focused on the anger ones more. Trying to bring it up to the surface and tap into that unlimited well of power he felt before. The memory of what happened to his mother, still fresh in mind, helped to bring out those darker emotions Palpatine spoke about.

Anakin could feel his anger reaching high levels, and he wanted more, he wanted more so he could use the force again. But before trying to expand his anger, he took his masters advice to heart, and instead tried to control the feeling. To make it lessen and expand in different intervals.

As he soon realized it was not as easy as he first thought. When the anger had come to the surface, it wanted to stay there. With a lot of willpower, that Anakin did not think he had, he managed to subside the rising feeling. Relief on his face, he decided to rest a bit until his master came back.

Sometime later, Anakin guessed about at least a few hours had passed, he saw a large planet trough one of the windows of the ship. To him it seemed a lot like Tatooine, it had the same color that he had grown accustomed to on his home world. _Probably a lot of sand, _he thought.

While Anakin observed the planet, the door to his room opened and his new master stepped through.

Palpatine observed that his new apprentice did not notice that he was there, so he said "This is a planet in the Begeren System, it is a lot like your home world" Anakin leered at Palpatine for a moment and than turned back to observing the planet.

"Does it have a lot of sand?" Anakin asked with disappointment in his voice.

Palpatine thought about what to tell him, and decided that now he could start some of the boy's education. "The planet is called Begeren and it is located in the Esstran Sector of the Outer Rim" He stopped for a moment to let the information sink in before he continued "The planet have large areas of rocky desert, scattered with large light blue constellations of gemstones"

Anakin nodded, _At least it's not only desert,_ he thought. A bit happy about learning this, Anakin asked "Is this your home, master?"

Palpatine thought about the irony of it, it wasn't his birth planet but it was a planet that has long been a part of his order, namely that of the Sith. So you could say it was a home to him "No, my apprentice. I was born on the planet Naboo, this planet will be your new home, at least for a while"

Anakin just nodded the energy he had a few minutes ago gone. Not surprised about that, he had been in a ordeal the last couple of hours. First the death of his mother, than him killing his mother's murderers, and then taking the choice to gain power so he would never have to watch a loved one die again. _So this is where my new life will begin_, Anakin thought.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The ship had just touched down on the planet surface, both Anakin and Palpatine stood ready for the outer door to open. When the door opened both walked outside onto the surface. The temperature was warm, but a bit cooler than on Tatooine. Anakin looked in all directions, trying to get accustomed to his new environment. Behind the ship there was rocky desert for as far the eyes could see, on the sides there were high cliffs, blocking the strong winds. And in the front he could see a small cave; it was too dark inside it to see what else was in there.

Palpatine began to walk towards the cave and Anakin hastily followed, the boy had a bit of trouble keeping up with the pace, but with some effort he did. Continuing into the dark cave, Anakin could see a large metal door further in. _Must be a secret door_, he thought. Excitement rose in the boy at the discovery, and he really wanted to know what was inside it.

His Master punched in a series of numbers on the doors panel and a few seconds later the door opened. Palpatine gestured for Anakin to go inside, and the boy did followed by the older man. The first room was a large hallway with rocky walls; it was very well-lit, surprisingly so considering the dark way through the cave.

It took Anakin a little while to realise there was someone else in the room with them. At the far end of the large room stood a man wearing a dark robe with the hood pulled over his head.

Said man walked towards them and went down on one knee, "I have come as requested, master" the man said with some annoyance. Having to pull out of his assignment to "educate" a little boy was not something he was happy about. But finally meeting the man he only new as "The Master" brought some satisfaction to him.

Palpatine observed the man and was pleased that he was already here, which could be heard in his voice "Rise, my friend". And so the man did, it was now the man took a better look at the little boy. The boy was small as expected, a bit malnourished but otherwise seemed fine. Turning his gaze to the older man he said "It's good to finally meet the person I'm taking orders from"

Palpatine but on his politician smile that he were forced to use so very often in the senate and said "It is my friend, but we must skip the pleasantries as I'm in a hurry" he continued "You already know the details, I expect updated reports once a month."

Taking his gaze from the man and to Anakin "Listen now my apprentice, this man will continue your training. Listen to what he says as if it came from me, and you will gain the power you seek" Using a genuine smile towards the boy he continued "I will visit as often as I can to personally supervise your training" And with that he the older man walked out the door and continued towards the ship, the cave door closing behind him.

Anakin watched his master leave, feeling a bit angry to be left with this other man when he felt that Palpatine could teach him so much better. The still unknown man went down on one knee and stretched out his hand and said "Hello there boy, I'm Garth Ezzar" Anakin took the hand in his own and shook it ones and informed "I'm Anakin Skywalker"

Garth smiled and continued "Nice to meet you Anakin, now follow me and I'll show you to your quarters" With that he stood up and walked down the far left side of the room and continued down another corridor, with Anakin just behind. After a quick turn to the left Garth opened a door and walked inside "This will be your room for the time being, mine is directly opposite to yours" he informed the boy. "Now let me show you the rest of the compound"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After hearing the cave door close Palpatine continued towards the ship, thinking that it was a good choice that he had contacted Garth all those years ago. Garth was after all a dark jedi that had killed his dark Jedi master. It really was a coincident that the two had met but it was fortunate, Garth and his master had travelled around doing many crimes. The Jedi had been sent to investigate, and that was when Garth's master decided to kill Garth to save her own skin. The duel between them resulted with Garth as the victor; the Jedi eventually found the body of the now deceased dark Jedi and concluded that she was the only criminal.

It was sometime after that Palpatine learned of this and tracked down Garth using one of the many bounty hunters that are for hiring, and Garth was more than willing to join Palpatine with the promise that the Jedi would pay dearly. Of course Palpatine didn't trust the man until he had proved himself; even then trust was not something Palpatine had for many beings, and Garth was just a means to an end. That end in the beginning was to undermine the Jedi and then he would discard Garth. But now after finding Anakin, Garth's usefulness increased as he needed someone to train the boy while he was tending to senate business.

Leaving thoughts of Garth, Palpatine focused on the task at hand. After entering the ship he went to the holoprojector, and after punching a few buttons, the image of a kneeling man clad in a dark black robe could be seen. The only part of the man who could be seen was his face, the man had red skin colour with numerous tattoos and spikes at the top of his head. The man's yellow eyes spoke of his strong connection to the dark side.

"What is thy bidding, my master?" The red skinned man inquired. Palpatine observed the kneeling zabrak, his official Sith apprentice Darth Maul. Of course there would come a time when Maul was no longer needed, and then he would have his ultimate apprentice. But it was still a long time until then.

With his dark, powerful and seductive voice he said "Rise, Lord Maul" The zabrak did just that "I have a task for you" Lord Maul showed no emotion on his face when he answered "I am yours to command"

"You must prepare for a long journey" Palpatine informed "The plans for the blockade of Naboo are finished, and the trade federation will be useful to us" Palpatine's voice changed, anger clearly could be heard "But...the Neimoidiens are the problem. With their greed and incompetence they will be hard to manage."

"**Your** duty will be to insure no outside sources interfere" Without waiting for a response Palpatine continued "As such your mission is to wipe out Black Sun" Without hesitation Lord Maul asked "Shall I destroy them completely?"

Palpatine mused over the idea for a few seconds before answering "No Lord Maul, they may prove useful someday. For the moment they need to be neutralised."

Lord Maul acknowledged the order with a nod, and Palpatine continued "The organization consists of nine vigos that all serve one master"

"Let me remind you Lord Maul, I will not tolerate failure" Palpatine threatened, before he shut off the holoprojector Maul answered "Of course not my master, we are Sith" Hearing that brought a sickly smile to Palpatine's face, and then the light from the projector disappeared.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The next day Anakin awoke from his slumber in "his" new room, and probably what would be his home for an extended period. But no place could ever be a home to Anakin except for Tatooine, but it was unlikely he would return there. After all, there was nothing there for him anymore. His room was very plain; all there was inside it was a bed, a table and a couple of chairs, and a compartment for storing his personal belongings.

Opposite to the bed there was a side door leading to a small meditation chamber, a place where Garth told him to go to when he wanted to meditate or when trying different force exercises. Thinking of the tour he got yesterday he remembered the training room that was full of different weapons he had never seen before. Garth had told him that he would probably not use any of them as Anakin was special, and as such would learn to fight with a ligthsaber.

A weapon that produces a shining blade of energy that could cut through almost anything, something Anakin looked forward to learning very much. Garth had also informed him about his daily activities, in the morning ha would instruct Anakin in the force, leading to midday with political science along with the study of history and cultures. After lunch there will be a physical activity to improve his body. The rest of the afternoon and evening he would most of the time be left to his own musings, where he could meditate on the things he's learned or simply rest.

Anakin imagined that this is how it was to go to school, or rather a school for learning to control the force. Now it felt that his path to power had finally come, and Anakin promised himself that he would do everything he could to gain the power he seeks. Therefore he would listen well to everything Garth told him and absorb as much as he can from the man.

Rising from his bed Anakin put on his new clothes that were given to him yesterday, the clothes consists of a light coloured black tunic and pants with accompanying black leather boots plus a belt. Garth had told him to wear this every time they were to meet for lessons and that Anakin had to keep up the clothes condition by himself eventually, in the beginning Garth would help him.

After getting dressed and moving to the training room, Anakin noticed that Garth was already there waiting for him. Without saying anything he sat down in front of Garth with his legs crossed and waited for the man to speak. After a few seconds Garth began by greeting his new learner and then went on with the lesson.

"The first thing you will learn is the idea of control; they are a set of abilities that will give you better self-control" Garth explained "When you have mastered these abilities your lifespan will increase and they will help your body to prevent decay and illnesses that would normally kill other beings"

Amazed by what the force could achieve Anakin asked "Will these abilities help me control my emotions" Garth gave a strict "No" as an answer and continued "That sort of control will come later. Strong emotions will come naturally to you and they will aid you. It is by harnessing these emotions that you will gain true power. Time will tell if you're worthy enough to control your emotions or if you will be ruled by them"

That was something Anakin refused to be, he needed control to achieve his goal. A few seconds went by before Garth continued "Well let's get started shall we?" And so Anakin's first lesson began.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Seven sunsets had passed when Anakin awoke from his slumber; he was in his bed and felt strangely refreshed. A feeling he hadn't felt since he got here, Garth's training saw to that. Turning around to see what time it was, Anakin realized he still had about an hour before breakfast. He sat up rapidly and lit a glow rod, casting warm light in the room. Anakin imagined that it was still dark outside and a bit cool in the air, but he had no way of knowing as his room had no windows. For the first time since he left his home planet of Tatooine he actually missed the warm sun in the morning.

Removing such thoughts from his mind, Anakin stood up and walked to his meditation chamber. He had found out that meditation came easily to him thanks to Garth's help, it was actually moving meditation. It involved repairing or building mechanical devices while one meditated, and Anakin had always had an interest in such devices. Perhaps because they always do what you tell them to do or maybe because he was surrounded by so many on Tatooine, he couldn't tell. In any case, it helped strengthen his connection to the force and to give him better control. Control being a means to an end, power being that end. Before he knew it, an hour had past and it was time to meet Garth for breakfast.

But before ending his meditation, Anakin promised to himself that he would embrace whatever he had to carry out his goals, whatever the cost.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

AU

Longest chapter yet, about 2700 words. I don't know that you think of my writing style or the quality, but surprisingly it comes rather easy to me. So I'll probably continue to write the story this way. I have been updating rather quickly now but the longer the story goes, the longer you have to wait for an update...probably.

Please let me know what you think.


	4. Chapter 4: Discovery

**Becoming Darth Vader**

Jedi Master Misty Sman-Esay: I also had never heard of Garth, not until I did some research about Palpatine's acquaintances anyhow.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.

**Chapter 4**

Two years. Two years had passed in the blink of an eye, to Anakin at least. Getting training, education and slowly but surely gaining more power over the force and its capabilities. This really was all he had hoped it to be when he choose to follow Palpatine of world. Anakin had changed a bit during this time. He had grown a bit taller and was no longer malnourished. Anakin had let his hair grow and was now at shoulder length. Muscular wise, he was still a boy, and there is not much one can do about that. Anakin was more mature now and only had his mind on things that were useful to him, as such he realized that Garth was valuable to him… for now.

But the greatest change was not his appearance or his personality, but his ability to use the force. Absorbing everything about the force that Garth had to teach, Anakin had become quite the force user. And according to Garth, he was stronger than other force users his age, which brought feelings of pride. But with pride also came arrogance, something Anakin was wise enough to realize. Never forgetting what Palpatine had told him onboard the vessel to Begeren.

Palpatine visited a few times and every time he evaluated Anakin on his progress, and taught him something new. But for every lesson Anakin had with his master, Garth was never present. There was always something else that he had to do, and Anakin took the situation for what it was. Palpatine did not wish Garth to know what they were doing, which brought a few questions to mind. What was the reason? Can't Garth be trusted? Was it some form of punishment? If it was some sort of punishment then Anakin had no reason to get involved, but if he can't be trusted, then Anakin had to watch his back more carefully from now on. But these questions also brought a sudden realization, that Anakin and his master had the same kind of thoughts. That anything and anyone can be used and then discarded for something better.

The last few times Anakin spoke with his master was on the holoprojector, and he had been informed that his daily activities were going to change. No longer was he supposed to learn the cultures and histories of other species and planets but solely focus on the art of lightsaber combat, force abilities and the betterment of his mind. Palpatine had felt that he was ready for such things now and that Garth also had expressed such thoughts.

And it was to one these new arts that Anakin was heading, namely for a lesson in the use of a lightsaber. He had developed a strong stride over the years, giving the impact that he had a higher station then the rest. Which in his own mind, he did. Sadly he did not leave the compound often enough to use it, but practice makes perfect.

For every step he took his newly built lightsaber poked against his leg, reminding him to never forget about the weapon, it was his life after all, or so he had been told. The hilt was plain and silver in color, about 20 centimeters long. The saber was a dual-phase variant; it allowed the user to use two different settings to quickly change style in a fight, or to surprise the enemy. The blade itself had a deep red color with a standard red crystal; the crystal had been given to Anakin by Garth sometime ago and the reason the color had to be red was because the order he now belonged to used a special kind of crystal that made the blade a bit more powerful than other types. The most remarkable with the lightsaber was in its construction, Anakin had built it by himself during one of his meditations. Anakin's natural abilities with moving meditation and the inborn ability to understand how mechanics work made it easy for him to build his own hilt.

Arriving at the compounds training room Anakin noticed that Garth had not arrived yet, only then did he remember that he would be on his own for the day. The goal during that time was to beat the ten levels on the lightsaber training droid that now floated its way towards him. The droid was going to teach him anticipation and speed, something vital in the art of lightsaber combat.

He turned the training program on and set it on the first level and was steadying himself to begin when he remembered the blindfold. Oh yes, he had to use a blindfold too. Garth told him that his eyes could deceive him and that the only certain way to know is with the force. The blindfold now covered his eyes and he could begin.

Crouching a bit and activating his lightsaber, bringing out the red blade. He sure felt ready for whatever the droid could throw at him, which made what happened next so much more painful. The droid zapped him "Ow!" And it stung. The little droid rotated and zapped at him again. This time however, Anakin countered it with his glowing blade. The pain of the first bolt hitting him was fresh in mind and it was that pain that made him focus on the little blue bolts as if his life depended on it.

The droid rotated again and began to engage, three successful swings later, Anakin stood victorious. Of course he had no time to think about that before the nest volley of bolts came upon him. It took him a few minutes to get through the first setting but at the end of it, it felt like the blade had become an extension of his will.

Next was setting two, it seemed fine at first until the droid started circling him. Gaining more and more speed between its shots, and it did not take long before Anakin felt that familiar pain come back. "Enough!" With that last hit Anakin's anger came to the surface and he felt himself gaining more focus. Using the anger to fuel himself, Anakin quickly defeated the floating droid.

That's when he decided he had to make a choice: win or suffer the consequences. It was an easy choice.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Palpatine was having a good night; the report from Garth was pleasing. The report detailed Anakin's progress along with his ongoing mission, which had forced the boy to be alone for some time. Anakin was becoming stronger and stronger; Palpatine was even of the belief that the boy could surpass even him one day. But enough thoughts of the boy, he had to prepare his speech for tomorrow in the senate, and his...acquaintance would soon be here.

Thinking about said acquaintance brought a small smile to his dry lips. The man he was going to meet was someone he had known for a long time, someone who knew his real identity. They had first met when Palpatine first came to Coruscant as the senator of Naboo, and it did not take much to bring the man to Palpatine's side. Promise the man a bit of power and he would do anything, someone like him could have great uses which the Sith Lord soon realised.

A buzzing at the door and his acquaintance had arrived. The door unlocked and the meeting could begin. The man entered the door without having to bow his head; in fact he was so short he probably never has had to do that. He wore a purple robe with his hood pulled up, the man walked towards the senator of Naboo with a powerful stride that demanded respect. The man removed his hood and finally showed his shaved white head, feeling the cool air in his face. The two men stood before one another, both holding their gaze at each other.

It was Palpatine that ended the silence "Welcome Sate, my friend, have a seat" The senator only received a nod as acceptance. "Now tell me, is everything as planned? You do know what I think of failure" Palpatine warned.

Sate Pestage did know all too well about the Sith view of failure, but as he had never failed, it was not something to be concerned about. "The evidence is planted in the senator's computer as requested" Sate informed. "It was a simple matter to slice into his computer from the room you provided"

"Good, because you know how vital this is to my plan" Palpatine answered. "Do not worry Palpatine, the information will be discovered on the senators computer and it will incriminate chancellor Valorum" Sate reassured. Bringing a gleeful smile to his face, Palpatine was now very close to the first step in his plan. "Very good work Sate, eventually this will bring doubt to the chancellor. And when the time is right, the vote of no confidence will remove him"

"I but aim to serve you, my lord" Was the last reply before the two men began discussing other not so important matters.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Roughly 2 hours had passed and finally Anakin had won against that evil droid, his lightsaber was now truly an extension of his will. His performance with the saber had improved greatly and he could now easily anticipate the droids every move, and it was very satisfactory. He did not really know how, but he had not received a single hit since his decision to win. He had such focus on the force and his blade that it just came naturally to block and counter the blue bolts. Ones more proving to him that with the force, you could do anything.

He rubbed his sweaty face with a towel hanging nearby. And taking a sip of water, Anakin decided to visit the compounds library. According to Garth, the library contained much knowledge about the deeds of old Sith lords and assassins. It was Garth's belief that Palpatine was fascinated with the Sith and had amassed the library for that reason. The library was not overly large but it contained a great number of scrolls, tomes and manuals. Anakin did not know why he was so fascinated by the knowledge contained there. But for any reason, he spent many hours there, sorting through text after text. Most of the scrolls were of battles from ancient times, the outcome and participants. That knowledge in its self had no real use to him, but sometimes he found bits and pieces that expanded his knowledge of the force. There was always something that reappeared no matter who the author, that you are ultimately alone. You must look inside yourself for strength, because others will fail you, others cannot be trusted. And the most important fact, there is no better source for strength than the dark side.

On his way to the library, Anakin wondered why Garth never spent time in there. Was he not interested in the knowledge? Had he already learnt it or did he simply not have the will to better himself? Was he content with his level of skill, or had he found his limit? Removing such questions from his mind Anakin realised it was pointless to have them even from the beginning. The only thing that mattered was that HE learned it and grew stronger.

Several hours later he decided to go outside and explore the nearby area, something he liked to do while alone. He clipped his lightsaber to his belt and with that action he was ready to explore. The outside door opened with its usual screeching sound, reminding everyone of its advanced age. It took a few seconds before the door had reached all the way up, but as soon it did, Anakin went outside. There was nothing unusual by the sight before him; everything was in the same place as last time.

This was not the only valley nearby; a few of them existed with close proximity. But Anakin had already explored all of them without finding something remotely interesting. Except for a few nests that belong to the local animals, some of said animals was really dangerous and would be best left alone. This time however, Anakin had decided to use one of the speeder bikes to travel farther from the compound. According to maps in the library, this planet had large rocky deserts but also a few valleys. These valleys were of interests, sometimes campers had forgotten something that he could use. The areas were good places to build camp and rest, away from the hard winds and the dangerous animals.

After putting on his protective gear, he was ready to set out. By his estimations, the journey would take a few hours on the speeder to reach the valley he had selected. Starting the speeder and a small pull on the handle, and he was on his way. He had always imagined a speeder to be like a pod racer, so he decided to have some fun.

As he expected, the journey took him awhile but he was finally here. Because of the sharp rocks in the area, Anakin had to park the speeder and continue the rest of the way on foot. Thankfully it wasn't far now, but he quickly realised how much harder it was to walk on the sand than on the flat floor in the compound. Using the force, Anakin bent it to his will and made it reenergize him. The heavy strain on his legs disappeared and he was full of energy again.

Finally when he had reached his destination, he found himself with no way into the area. While full of energy through the force, he began walking around to find an opening. After walking for sometime in the same direction, he got the feeling that he had been here before. And sadly he had. With no easy way in, the only thing to do was to climb or dig. Anakin quickly decided to climb, feeling stupid for having the thought to dig in the first place.

He used the force to make a jump he would otherwise not make and landed on a cliff, but from there he could not find a simple way up. The only way now was to climb on the rocky walls. Strengthening his wrists with the force he began his climb.

Finally when he got to the top he dropped to the ground breathing heavily. Even with the force his young body had a very hard time managing this feat. He wiped of the few sweat pearls that had formed on his forehead with the back of his sleeve. Even with his tired body, he turned his head from side to side to look at his surroundings. From a laying position he couldn't see very much, so he crawled to the first edge and put his head over it.

There was a ship there, further down. Pulling his head back hastily so he wouldn't be seen, he lay there listening for any sign that someone had spotted him. A full minute went by and the only sound he could hear was that of the wind. To be on the safe side, Anakin used the force to sense if someone was nearby. To his surprise, no one was. Rolling over to the edge again he inspected the ship, it was a Kappa-class shuttle. The shuttle had an angled cockpit with a wide viewport and was afforded three broad stabilizing fins. It was a shuttle designed for transporting military troops into hot zones. What was it doing out here? Well only one way to find out.

Making his way down to the ship, Anakin took it slow and tried to use stealth to the best of his ability. You can never be too careful after all. Finally on the ground he made sure that no one was here with the force ones more. Only then did he feel safe enough to walk out in the open. On closer inspection, the ship had sustained some damage but there were no signs on the nearby terrain to suggest a battle. Probably someone trying to flee, he thought

Walking to the other side of the ship Anakin saw that the entry ramp was open, without further ado he went inside. The cockpit was empty but here was a blood trail leading further back to the cargo area. Taking out his lightsaber but still not igniting it, Anakin started moving towards the cargo area. Trying to make as little sound as possible and keeping his senses at the maximum with the force, he entered the room. Only to find the source of the blood trail, an unmoving human female. By the looks of it, the body had been here for some time. Strapping his lightsaber back on his belt, Anakin knelt before the body. "So Jane Doe. What happened to you?"

Of course he wouldn't get an answer so he began to search the body for any kind of information on whom she was. Sadly he couldn't find anything; the mysterious female had to stay Jane Doe. But this presented a very good opportunity; obviously she had run away from someone. But judging from the body's composition and how dry the blood was she must have been here for some time, and whoever she was running from hadn't found her. Because if they did, I doubt they would leave the shuttle here, Anakin thought.

"Well, let's see if I can get it to work" Moving over to the cockpit Anakin sat down on one of the chairs without blood on it, and began to inspect the different controls. A few clicks later and he could hear the engine fire up. "Yes it's working, and it seems the hyperdrive is intact"

With this he could leave the planet when he wished, finally he wasn't grounded to Begeren anymore. Since it was his shuttle now, Anakin decided to name it "The Escape". Taking a firm grip on the controls and pulling up, the ship began to move.

It was the first time he had flown alone but he managed it without incident, flying out of the area and landed near his speeder. He couldn't leave that behind, it would be noticed. When the speeder was in the cargo hold Anakin began his now much shorter journey back to the compound. He had already found a perfect place to hide the ship, in one of the valleys that were closer to the compound. He had two reasons for hiding the shuttle in one of the valleys. One: The one he had chosen had no animal life and so it was unlikely he would disturb anything. And Two: He did not want Garth to know about the shuttle, who knows when he could need a shuttle of his own. After touching down on the ground there was only two things left to do, bury the body of Jane Doe, and cleaning the ship. Looking at the time he realised he best start now before Garth comes back.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The next morning Anakin woke to the sound of the outer door opening, it was made so that you can hear the door no matter where you are in the compound. Rushing to put on his clothes, he walked in a fast pace to the grand hall. There was Garth using a datapad and he looked angry. It was one of the few times Anakin had seen him angry, Anakin began to be concerned, he had realised that Garth had become a friend, his only friend in fact. You could even say he was like a father figure, something Anakin has never had, slowly he walked forward. "Hello Garth everything alright?" he enquired.

Without even looking at him Garth replied "I'm fine Anakin. Just these bloody Heroes of Cularin, they nearly was the death of me"

Who were the Heroes of Cularin and what did Garth have to do with them, Anakin thought. There was no point in asking because Anakin already knew that he would not receive an answer. So he decided to file away that information for now. Before he could say anything Garth finally looked at him and said "Meet me in the training room in fifteen minutes" And with that he left for his own quarters.

Left with no other choice Anakin prepared himself for another session, and waited for his instructor in the training room. Less than fifteen minutes passed and Garth entered the room, he seemed to be in a better mood but it was always hard to tell. Garth had a certain ability to hide his emotions well. "So Anakin, I take it you have completed the ten settings on the remote?"

"Of course"

"Good then I will now teach you the basic moves of all the seven forms" Garth elaborated. "I assure you, you will be tired for the next couple of weeks. I'll drill into you through endless repetition defensive postures, overhand strikes, parries and counter strikes" Taking a deep breath he continued. "After that I'll decide which form suits you the best" Anakin nodded his head and prepared himself for what was about to come.

"Now observe the natural stance of..."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

AU

Please let me know what you think.


	5. Chapter 5: All Over Again

**Becoming Darth Vader**

Disclaimer: I'dont own Star Wars.

**Chapter 5**

Learning the ways of lightsaber combat was not as easy as Anakin had first thought. During the last few weeks he had trained so much that he didn't have enough time or interest to do anything else. The original fascination with the knowledge in the library had past and now his only concern was to learn this damn lightsaber form. After many tedious hours of practice, Garth had told him that form five, Djem So also called The Perseverance Form, would fit him the best. It was a style focused on powerful attacks and defense instantaneously followed by a counter attack. As such this forms primary focus is lightsaber combat. This form was created by combining the defensive maneuvers of form three and the aggressive tactics of form two.

His sessions with this form mainly revolved around him going through the same exercises over and over, teaching his muscles with countless repetitions so they could perform the same movement every time. Only then could he move on to other maneuvers, the movements them self didn't put too much strain on his body but the training required a will of stone. You needed very strong mental focus to get the movements right, and it was the mental focus that left you very tired afterwards. The problem Anakin faced was that Garth himself did not use this form; as such Anakin could not receive guidance from the man. Instead Palpatine had sent holograms and scrolls detailing the correct way, which made everything that much harder because you can't know if you're a couple of centimeters to low or too high. The hologram in particular had a few set of sequences that were very helpful; they contain a series of strikes and parries. And little by little, he got closer to the end of the instructions.

Anakin had already managed to be accomplished in the maneuvers of Barrier of Blades, were the user defends against blaster fire and redirect some of the incoming attacks. The Fluid Riposte, the user smoothly changes from parrying an attack to a counterstrike. And he was working on two other maneuvers, Shien Deflection, which involves leaping towards an opponent while simultaneously deflect incoming fire and Falling Avalanche, which involves an overhand strike that crash down upon an opponent with great force.

Today he was moving to the communications room, the room was as boring has the others in the compound. This place really needs some art to lighten the place up, he thought. Anakin walked forward in a steady pace to the console and pushed a few buttons. He got down on one knee and had to wait a couple of seconds before the holoprojector flared to life. Before him appeared the aged face of his master wearing his senate garbs.

"Ah my apprentice, it's good to see you again. It has been some time since we last spoke. The senate has been keeping me busy sadly" The older man began.

"Master, it's been too long. I've missed your counsel and teachings" Anakin responded, still kneeling on the very uncomfortable floor. Palpatine must have realized Anakin's thoughts because he asked him to rise, and so he did. "How is your training coming along, my apprentice?"

"I have finished the technique you wanted me to learn, master" Anakin said with pride, sometime ago Palpatine had insisted that he learned a variant of the Force Cloak ability, namely Force Haze. The technique allowed the user the affect the minds of those around him, similar to the famous Jedi Mind Trick but the difference is that Force Haze can remove all trace of the user's presence from the minds of the observers. It was very effective for stealth missions as it allowed the user to move freely while in the open. The drawback to the technique is that it does not affect droids or large groups of people.

"Very good apprentice. Because I find myself needing your help to solve a problem if mine" Palpatine informed "It has come to my attention that one person in particular in the senate has come in possession of some information that has value to me. I want you to prove your ability to me by tracking this target and collect that information. Do this for me my apprentice, and I will be most grateful"

"Of course master" Anakin said without hesitation, he had waited for this moment for some time now.

"I have prepared some equipment for the mission; you will find it, along with your target in the cantina on Coruscants Sah'c Town sector. Ask the bartender for a Lum with extra foam" Lum was a strong ale and it was impossible to overdose on the liquor, which made it very popular.

"It will be done master" And with that the aged face of his master disappeared as the light of the holoprojector went out. Without further ado, Anakin went to collect his things. He strapped his lightsaber to his belt and went for the shuttle.

It was a long and boring trip to Coruscant from Begeren but when Anakin saw the planet, or rather the giant globe of technology, he was instantly amassed by the sight. Of course he had read about the planet, but reading about it could never measure up to actually seeing it. Steering the shuttle closer to the surface, Anakin began to see the giant buildings and the many shuttles going about their way. This must be a city that never sleeps, Anakin thought. This city, no this planet really was a technological marvel, with skyscrapers higher than the eyes can see and the ability to support over a hundred billion in populations.

Anakin put in his desired location on one of the boards before him and steered the ship after its recommendations. It did not take long before he had touched down upon the surface in one of the unaccompanied spaces. From the computer he could see that he needed to travel by foot a few blocks before reaching the cantina. He checked that everything was with him so not to forget anything, and then opened the shuttle door to leave. Stepping out Anakin felt warm air rushing to his face, the atmosphere was very hot, and not the impression you get from a planet made of cold metals.

Moving out of the landing area, Anakin had an easy way to the cantina. As it was night, there was a lot fewer people outside and those who were kept mostly to them self. Anakin wondered how many people disappear on this planet, because everywhere you look there is a dark alley or people you best stay clear of. But nothing to worry about, they are insignificant compared to the power of the force, Anakin thought. Reaching out with the force Anakin manipulated the mind of a lone Twi'lek to try his ability to use Force Haze. The man must be very simpleminded for him to be able to use his ability without even trying very hard. But he was glad it worked and continued past the lone Twi'lek without it ever realizing he was there.

Not before long he saw the cantina sign and went inside, there were surprisingly few people inside. The ones he could see were a few drunken people from a few different species. Anakin turned his head around to watch his surroundings before venturing further inside to the bar. The bartender was an old human male with eyes that spoke volumes of the things he had seen. I suppose a lot of things happen in a cantina, Anakin thought. Or perhaps he is an old war veteran or a retired mercenary.

Reaching the bar Anakin said, "Good evening, I would like a Lum with extra foam please."

The bartender just looked at him for a few seconds before pulling a package out from under the bar. It was kind of big, which surprised Anakin. Before he could say anything, the bartender left to clean one of the tables. He must have done these sorts of things a couple of times, Anakin thought. Taking the package he went outside again, moving away from the cantina until the cantina sign could no longer be seen and went inside an unoccupied alley. He put the package on a control station box so he could open it without having to sit down. Inside was some dark clothing along with a datapad and a hacking tool.

Anakin started with the clothes, they were not to different from the ones he had now, but they had more armor. Seeing no other way he began to strip in the alley and putting on the new clothes. When finished he looked at the datapad, the first entry was of a man named Kal Gesh. He was a member of the Finance Committee of the Galactic Senate. The datapad continued to list the man's family members and some of the man's resent history along with his address. Last the datapad specified which information he was suppose to get, it was a data file named HDJ176 and that the file should be delivered back to the cantina ones the mission was finished. Seeing as he had all he needed from the datapad, Anakin destroyed it so not to leave any evidence. He put on the hack tool by strapping it to his wrist, and began to move towards Kal Gesh's home.

Arriving at the man's house, Anakin slipped over the medium high wall surrounding the place. Careful not to make a sound and keeping his senses to the maximum with the force, he continued towards the building doors. His senses picked up a man approaching and almost on instinct Anakin entered the man's mind, and made him oblivious to Anakin's presence. Said man had now gotten closer and Anakin could see that he was one of the men guarding the building. The man was probably on one of his rounds, and Anakin let him pass by. Using stealth to the best of his ability, Anakin continued around the building to the back door. Crouching down he wiped out the hack tool and started hacking into the doors control, and a few seconds later the control flashed green.

Anakin stood up and entered the building, checking with his hack tool to see if there was any droids or cameras. Thankfully there was not, or rather there was but they hadn't been installed yet. Probably why the man had guards patrolling outside, Anakin thought. The first part of the mission was over, now he only needed to find the computer and hack into it and then leave. Moving down the hall Anakin made note of all the art the man owned, some of them truly were marvelous. He continued up the stairs and reached out with the force, sensing that the family members were fast asleep and that no guards were inside the house. The family was sleeping down the hall to the left and his hacking tool showed that some technological devices were located down the hall to the right. Anakin continued still moving slow so not to make a sound.

He took a right after the stairs and opened the door to the far right. Leaving the door slightly open so not to make unnecessary sound, he scanned the room with his eyes and found the computer sitting at the other end of the room. The room itself seemed to be a study; it had many bookcases and only one table. Anakin went around the table and booted up the computer, it took a minute or two before it had loaded. And as expected, it was password protected. A few tweaks on the hacking tool and he got passed the protection. Running a search program he quickly found the file he was looking for. When he opened it he could only see many different numbers and characters at random, Encryption.

Anakin knew he shouldn't try to look inside the file but the curiosity took the better of him, he was so engrossed in trying to hack through the encryption that he didn't realize that the door opened before it was too late. In the door opening stood an older woman, the wife of Kal Gesh. Fear and disappointment ran through him, fear for being discovered and disappointment for failing his first mission. The only thought in his head was that he desperately needed her to shut up and not make a sound, and without really knowing what he was doing, he reached out with the force and just wanted her to be quiet. The surprised woman tried to scream but found that she couldn't, it was like an invisible force with a metal grip held her around her throat. She had never felt anything like this before, this feeling of helplessness was terrifying, and no matter how hard she fought she could only make a small gurgling sound.

Anakin felt such fear that he didn't know what was happening, it was almost the same feeling he had when his mother died, and the fear refused to go away now that it had gnawed its way to the surface. To him time seemed to have stopped moving and before he knew it, the gurgling sounds from the woman stopped. With it his connection with the force disappeared, and the woman fell to the ground. Anakin could feel his heart racing like never before; he was still frozen in the same place, he dared not move, the fear freezing him. It took several minutes before the fear finally subsided, only to leave him in a numb state. This was exactly the same thing that happened when his mother died, he had killed again. He had thought he was passed that experience, he thought he had become stronger because of it. But now he realized, even with all the training he had received, he was still the same unsecure boy who lost his mother.

He was out of control than and he was out of control now, nothing had changed. Without really knowing what he was doing, his body moving on its own accord. He went towards the door, carefully moving past the body of the now deceased woman without ever looking away from her now dead eyes. Forcing himself to look away he realized he had to escape before someone else woke up. Even in his weakened mental state, his training kicked in and made sure that he got to the lower floor without making a sound. Moving out of the same door he entered through less than half an hour ago, he continued over the wall and began to run as fast as he could. He slowed his pace the further away from the house he got looking frantically backwards all the way.

It did not take him much time to see the cantina sign again, now moving in a fast steady pace he entered the cantina. Even fewer people than before was now present, but Anakin did not realize. In his numbness he was unable to think clearly and only knew he had to deliver the file back to the bartender. Without saying anything to each other, Anakin gave the man his hacking tool containing the file and then left for his shuttle. Finally when he was on the shuttle heading back to Begeren did the numbness leave his body, but the entire trip back went on without Anakin having many thoughts beside the image of the woman's dead eyes.

As soon as the shuttle touched down on the ground, Anakin went inside the compound. Garth did not meet him so the man was probably asleep. How Anakin wished he could be asleep now. Moving directly the communications room, where he knew his master waited for his call. Taking a kneeling position, Anakin waited for the familiar light from the holoprojector. His master appeared, this time in a black robe with his hood pulled up, casting shadow over the older man's face. "My apprentice, were you successful?"

Forcing down the feelings he had during the mission he replied "Yes master, the mission was a success." Palpatine looked pleased at the news. "Well done my young apprentice. However I sense much fear and doubt on your mind"

Steadying himself Anakin replied "I had some…complications. The targets wife discovered me, but I…took care of it"

"You have failed me, apprentice!" Palpatine spat out. Fearing the worst Anakin forced himself to calm down and accept whatever punishment he would receive.

"You were supposed to enter without being caught, this was to be an examination of your skill to remain unnoticed. Something you failed, but since you took care of the…problem that arose, I won't punish you. But do know apprentice, I won't accept failure again in the future"

"I understand master"

"Good, now how exactly did you solve this problem?" Palpatine enquired.

Anakin forced his voice to be steady while remembering the incident and answered "I just wanted her to stay quiet. It…It happened the same way I killed my mother's murderers, only this time her neck wasn't broken. I just reached out with the force and she just stopped breathing"

A moment of silence went by before Anakin got a reply "What you used is called Force Choke. It allows the user to create a force field around the targets throat, effectively choking the target. I am…pleased that you discovered this technique on your own, apprentice" He continued "But do not feel sorry for her death, you just did what you thought you had to survive"

"I… I understand master"

"Good, in time the feelings you have now will disappear and you will find yourself being more powerful" Palpatine informed. "Now you should rest, apprentice" And with that Palpatine disappeared from view.

Now alone Anakin decided to follow his masters advice, he did feel exhausted after all, and went to bed. Although he probably wouldn't be able to just close his eyes and fall asleep, not after everything that had happened.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

AU

Hope you got some excitement from this chapter. Please let me know that you think.

Minor Note: Kal Gesh and his family are people I created for this chapter.


	6. Chapter 6: Trip To Khar Ogun

**Becoming Darth Vader**

I would like to thank my reviewers, those who added my story to their alerts and favorites, and to all anonymous readers.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.

**Chapter 6**

Five years later.

Thirteen year old Anakin Skywalker awoke from a nightmare. He had once more relived the memory of what happened at Kal Gesh's home, the feelings of fear and guilt. She had been innocent, she didn't deserve to die. The feelings he still had no matter what he did, it was like his mind refused to let go. Before that day, he had cherished every bit of sleep he could have, but not anymore. He still had many good nights' sleep but eventually the same nightmare would appear. Anakin had tried many things in order to come to terms with his guilt, but to no avail. In the beginning he tried to have all his thoughts on his training, when that did not help he tried to delve deeper in the knowledge of the library.

The library had ones more become a fascination for him, but even so, it did not help him block out the guilt. Anakin's latest try was using his natural talent for technological devices to build different machines, and he had almost finished his latest project. He had collected and bought different parts to build a droid, namely a protocol droid. It wasn't finished but he had already thought up a name, C-3PO. According to what his master had told him, his feelings would disappear if he fully confronted his choices and disappointments, but that was not something easily done.

Garth had tried the best of his ability to help but there really was nothing the man could do, this problem had nothing to do with his skill or body only his mind. But that's not to say the man didn't help him in other ways. Garth was the only one after all that Anakin felt he really could talk to, his master would not understand and would only tell him to fix the problem.

But even with the feelings Anakin had, he did feel that he had become much stronger in the force. Now he could lift several heavy objects with telekinesis without too much strain, and he was an accomplished practitioner of Djem So. He had also received a lot more experience from the different missions he had been sent on the last couple of years. After the half failure of his first mission, it took a while before his master decided to use him again. But since then he had completed all of his missions, something that made him feel pride.

Bringing himself out of his current thoughts, Anakin decided to meditate until it was time for breakfast. His meditation had also developed, he still fixed devices while meditating, but only with the force and his body had begun to float every time he entered into a deep meditation. And every time he did, he felt like he was swept up in an unstoppable current that would grant him unlimited power if he but allowed it. But he had to watch himself because it was so easy to forget yourself in that endless stream of power.

Several hours later he decided to get some food, the meditation had given him a lot of energy but his body still hungered for sustenance. Half way into his breakfast Garth arrived and sat down opposite to him. And it was the older of the two that broke the silence.

"Anakin, I have been given a new assignment and I won't be back for several days. I trust you will keep up with your training during that time"

Finally he would leave, now I have an opportunity, Anakin thought. "I suppose you can't tell me about it?"

"I can't go into details, but it has to do with the death of a jedi master named Qui-Gon Jinn. Well I better get going, Goodbye for now."

Anakin said his goodbyes and wondered who Qui-Gon Jinn was but left it alone and continued with his meal. This was the opportunity he had waited for, one night some time ago he had found bits and pieces of clues in the library containing the whereabouts of The Book Of Shadows. It was not easy to find, he only found it because he had studied a lot of the scrolls and tomes they had in the library. He first found information about Dathomir, a planet in the outer rim. Dathomir had several different tribes and the most interesting one were the Nighsisters.

The Nighstisters were a group of witches that had a strong connection to the dark side, and their most prized possession was The Book Of Shadows. It contained most if not all the spells and rituals of their tribe. The next clue was in a completely different tome that had nothing to do with Dathomir, there he discovered that a young woman had visited the planet of Khar Ogun, a moon circling Khar Delba in the outer rim. That woman had been identified as a Nightsister, and according to the tome, she had a large book with her. Sure there was nothing concrete about it being The Book Of Shadows, but if it were, it was a gold mine of knowledge.

Another tome also had information on the Nightsister, but nothing mentioning a book. And it stated that she left in a hurry, barely even having clothes on. From all this information Anakin began to think that she had hidden the book some were on the planet Khar Ogun before leaving. He had known about this for some time now, but this was the first time Garth left the compound for a long time. So finally he had his chance to find out if it is The Book Of Shadows or not.

Finishing his breakfast as fast as he could, Anakin continued to his room to change clothes. He had made his new attire by himself, now he had a uniform that was composed of dark robes that were black, immaculate and adorned with armor pieces around the upper torso and forearms. Along was a hood attached to the outfit to allow him to hide his identity when it suited him. He was pleased with it; it allowed him to look threatening without even doing anything.

Before leaving, he strapped his new lightsaber to his belt; Anakin had remade his old one. The hilt of the lightsaber had been extended a bit and had a different design. This weapon really showed Anakin's skill of mechanical engineering, it was specifically built and designed for a user of Djem So. But he still used the same red crystal he got to his first lightsaber, having gotten accustomed to it.

Now he was all set and was ready to start his journey, ones more having to hear to outer doors screeching sound when it opened. Finally I have an opportunity to use The Escape, Anakin thought. The shuttle had remained were he put it so many years ago, of course Anakin had been there to check up on it. He even made a few improvements, being able to understand the electronic language of Binary really helped him on his engineering. Said language was used by most simple droids and pit crew. But most of all he had done a lot of design changes, so anyone wouldn't recognize the ship.

For every step he took his excitement increased to finally being able to use The Escape. It did not take long before he could see the ship, and ventured inside it. The familiar sound of the engines starting could be heard and then he pulled the ship up. Finally when he was in space, Anakin punched in the hyperspace coordinates and sat back to enjoy the ride.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The first sight Anakin saw when pulled out of hyperspace was a yellow planet, Khar Delba he realised. Around it 2 moons circled, Khar Shian and Khar Ogun. Both the planet and the two moons were snow worlds with a lot of ice, mountains and craters. Khar Shian had once been the centre of power of the ancient Dark Lord Of The Sith, Naga Sadow. The Dark Lord also had a stronghold on Khar Ogun but it was much smaller and had less protection. But that was a long time ago, now the strongholds had fallen to ruin and had no owner, except for the local wildlife anyway. The buildings had survived the Dark Lord and had only fallen to ruin about a hundred years ago.

Steering the ship towards Khar Ogun, and then kicked in the Ion drives. Anakin began to search the planet surface for the stronghold. Somehow the ships sensors couldn't pinpoint the strongholds location only a general direction, it would seem something was interfering. Before Anakin realised what was happening, everything in the ship started blinking and the entire ship was shaking. Trying everything to fix the problem but to no avail, Anakin saw the ship falling to the ground at high-speed. Anakin braced himself for impact and BOOM. The entire ship bounced of the surface and down ones more before finally slowing down to a halt.

Anakin took a few seconds to clear his head out of the dizziness he felt and punched a few buttons on the board. Nothing happened; whatever had brought the ship down was keeping it down. It seems there is a disruptor field surrounding the stronghold, Anakin thought.

Well he wasn't going anywhere in this ship, after he destroyed that disruptor field anyway. Pulling on his hood to shield his face from the cold, Anakin opened the door. Thankfully there weren't any strong winds at the moment, and so Anakin went outside to look around. In the distant he tried to see the outlines of the stronghold but couldn't. Seeing no other way, Anakin began his march towards the source of his troubles.

It did not take long before he sensed something; a presence of great size and strength, and it was coming towards him, fast. A few seconds went by and the presence finally showed itself, a large Ice tiger. Howling and showing its razor-sharp teeth, it charged towards him. Anakin watched it come, waited for the beast to be close enough. When it was within forty metres of him, he reached out with his hand and touched the beasts mind with the force.

With the force he willed it to stop, and the beast came to a halt, panting heavily. Careful to keep the beast in check, Anakin walked over to the tiger. The tiger really was a marvellous creature; it had powerful legs that could do very high-speed, but an even more powerful jaw with teeth that could severe a limb without problem. He put a hand on the tigers back and felt the soft fur, continuing to keep the beast submissive with the force.

The beast crouched down to the ground, allowing Anakin to jump onto its back. When seated, Anakin commanded the beast towards his location, the stronghold.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It took more than thirty minutes to reach the stronghold, with the beast going as fast as it could. He had to force the beast to continue towards his destination; several times it wanted to run after another prey. But it was easier to control an animal than a person; animals don't have thoughts, only instinct and intent. And the tiger really didn't want to reach the stronghold, obviously afraid of what was there. But with Anakin controlling its mind, it had little choice in the matter.

Even though the stronghold had fallen to ruin, it was still a magnificent sight. If Anakin had to guess, he would guess that the structure itself was about forty metres tall, along with a long walkway up to the stronghold doors. Anakin jumped off the tiger and directed all his focus on the structure before him. Freed from the effects of the force, the tiger ran away and disappeared behind a hill.

Anakin took a few steps closer; he could feel the dark side in this place and it was strong. It meant that trouble was likely up ahead. He continued in caution, ready to engage whatever came before him. He began to search the nearby area with the force, probing for any kind of life or trap. Sensing no danger, he advanced up the steps towards the entrance. The walkway was wide and the steps were surprisingly not that slippery. And with a few more steps, Anakin went through the high and wide entrance.

Excitement and anticipation ran through him, sadly it only took a few moments of exploration for those feelings to fade. The first parts of the stronghold had been completely stripped of anything valuable. Moving on he came to an intersection with two passages, one leading up, probably towards the towers, and the other leading down to the lower levels. He chose the way leading to the lower levels.

Anakin spent hours searching the lower levels, scanning every little thing in the empty halls and rooms. Even thou he didn't find anything, his spirit didn't waver. He could still feel the strong pull of the dark side in this place, promising power to those brave enough to find it. Eventually his search brought him back to the intersection where he started, and he continued upwards this time. Carefully searching everything he met up and down the halls. A few passage ways that led to some of the towers had completely collapsed, but some was still accessible.

And it was in one of those still remaining towers that he felt the pull of the dark side increase, but only slightly. He would have missed it if not for a very small light in one of the corners, something there was glowing. Moving closer he could see that it was a box hiding inside the wall, judging from the hole in the wall, Anakin could assume it was a hidden compartment. Time had weakened its hiding place and finally exposed to the world its secret. The box was heavily reinforced to protect whatever was inside. On one of its sides was the source of the glowing light, a control panel demanding a password.

Anakin had trouble containing his eagerness to solve this mystery; perhaps inside this box he would find The Book Of Shadows. Picking up the box with the force, he slowly put it down on the floor in front of him. Now that it was in front of him, Anakin could feel that this was an item of the dark side. The dark side wouldn't leave this place even if the item did. It had been here for so long that the darkness would probably never leave.

Inspecting the box more carefully, Anakin could see strange symbols on the sides. Some of them he recognized as symbols of the Sith. He didn't know their meaning but he had come across them a few times when reading in the library. The box itself had a light silver colour and there was no visible damage to it. Well let's try to open it, he thought.

"Ah fucking hell!" twenty minutes had passed and the box simply wouldn't open. First he had tried the simplest way to open it, using the console. When that failed he moved over to more aggressive actions. Trying to force it open with the force, but to no avail. Then it was time to take out the big guns, namely his lightsaber. The red familiar light appeared and he began to cut it open. Only to realise seconds later that he only made very small dents in it, and it was then he had to vent out his anger.

The bloody thing must be protected by a spell most likely, he thought. There was only one person he knew that could have information on how to break it, his master. But if he went to him, then he probably had to give over the box, something he really didn't want. It was he who had spent hours in the library piecing together the information; it was he who spent hours searching the forgotten stronghold, so why should he share the benefits of his work. No, he refused to go to his master, there had to be another way.

Before he could leave, he still needed to find the source of the disruptor field. Strapping the box to his back, he continued to search the halls and rooms for the source of the field. While up in another tower that still remained intact, he could see through a window that a group of people approaching the stronghold. Perhaps they are the ones with the disruptor technology.

They were still too far away for him to see what species they were or what kind of weapons they have. Anakin continued to watch them approach from up above, a few minutes went by before he could identify them. They were a group of four, all of them Trandoshan. Probably bandits or mercenaries, they must have seen my ship and figured anyone stranded would come here, Anakin thought.

The Trandoshan had blasters and one of them had a vibroblade, he was probably the leader. They seemed to wait outside the entrance, smart move. That way they wouldn't need to search for him, as Anakin would have to leave eventually. Moving away from the window, Anakin continued down the passage and eventually stopped a bit from the entrance. Reaching out with the force, he sensed their movements but he couldn't read their thoughts. Trandoshan were large and had great strength, to a normal bounty hunter or an inexperienced Jedi padawan this would be a hard situation.

Good then that Anakin is neither of those, using the force Anakin did a fast sprint and jumped. Activating his lightsaber in midair he steadied himself, ready to strike. One of the Trandoshans went down with the first swing, cleanly severing its head from its shoulders. There was no blood as the lightsaber cauterised the wound, now the other three had noticed him and began firing their blasters. Swinging side to side, Anakin blocked and returned some of the shots, forcing the Trandoshans to dodge.

Summoning the force, Anakin let out a powerful wave of telekinetic energy that forced two of his opponents to the ground. He went in for the final strike but had to slow down because of the incoming fire from the third enemy. It did give the other two a few more seconds, but not enough to save their lives. With two vertical strikes they fell back to the ground, lifeless.

Now only the leader remained, "Surrender now and your life will be spared" Anakin said, using the force to amplify his voice and making it more sinister. Just as he was about to attack, the Trandoshan thru down his weapons and knelt before him.

"Smart move", Anakin still had his lightsaber activated and went forward, holding it just below the creature's throat. "Now you will answer my questions and I'll let you live, do you understand?"

He only got a quick Yes as answer, it was clear that the Trandoshan was not used to speaking in basic. "I want the location of the disruptor field module" Anakin demanded, he still had his hood pulled up, making him very intimidating even thou he was almost thirty centimetres shorter than a standing Trandoshan. It took a few seconds before his prisoner pointed his hand towards the way they had come from. Anakin put his hand on top of the Trandoshans head and summoned the force, a second later the prisoner fell to the ground, unconscious.

Anakin deactivated his lightsaber and began moving in the direction the Trandoshan had pointed to. Almost twenty minutes later did he find a camp, searching with the force for any sign of life, not finding anyone; he began searching thru the camp. It did not take long to find the computer that controlled the disruptor field, ones deactivated, Anakin destroyed the machine.

Now finally being able to leave, he marched towards The Escape. Because of his side trip, the way back to the ship took almost an hour and a half to return. Feeling the strain on his legs, it felt good to sit down in the cockpit and hear the familiar sound of the engines starting. Now began the journey back to Begeren.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

AU

For those wondering about Anakin's attire, imagine the uniform of The Dark Apprentice in The Force Unleashed 2. That's what I was going for.

Please let me know that you think.


	7. Chapter 7: Rescue

**Becoming Darth Vader**

I would like to thank my reviewers, those who added my story to their alerts and favorites, and to all anonymous readers.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.

**Chapter 7**

Arriving back at the compound on Begeren, Anakin needed a place to hide the box he acquired on Khar Ogun. It would have to be a safe place where it could be until he found a way to open it. He decided to hide the box in his own room, in one of the piles of different mechanical devices that lay on the ground, hiding the box in plain sight so to speak. It would still be a few days before Garth came back, just enough time to do more research and perhaps find someone or something that could help him.

The obvious place to start was the compounds archives in the library, since the box had sith symbols on its side, it would probably be a smart thing to start by learning what the symbols meant. Suddenly Anakin remembered one of the texts detailing the life of King Ommin, the text claimed that the ancient Sith King had many Sith artifacts in his possession during his life. Where they were now was a completely different matter, but it was a good start.

King Ommin had ruled over Onderon, a planet in the Inner Rim Territories located in the Japrael sector. As such, the capital of Iziz could be a good place to start his search. But the trip there and back would take too long if he still wanted to remain unnoticed of his travels. So it had to wait. For now he needed to leave it alone and get some sleep.

The next morning was like any other, waking up, getting breakfast and then decides what to do. This time Anakin continued the work on his latest project, namely his protocol droid. There were just few adjustments to be made before it was ready. He had already acquired and put on a gold plating to give the droid some protection and to make it look pleasing. The only thing left was to place the Verbobrain and the Communicator module inside the droids head.

An hour had passed with making the last preparations, finally finished, it made Anakin smile. He always felt better after working on one of his technological devices, but now it was time to activate it. The droids eyes turned yellow and it began to move.

"Hello, I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations. Are you my master?"

Anakin found it pretty funny to be called master, because in his own mind, he wasn't a master of anything…yet. "Hello C-3PO, I'm Anakin Skywalker and I'm your maker and owner"

The droid nodded "Ah it is so good to see you Master Anakin"

Anakin inspected the droid. "Tell me about your specifications." He still kept a watchful eye on the droid.

"Oh I would be more than happy to help you in any way I can. I have full detailed programs for etiquette and I am fluent in over six million forms of communications." The droid almost seemed proud about that.

Anakin nodded. "Interesting, well welcome to your new home"

The droid turned his head from side to side. "Oh my, my home is like a war zone"

Looking around the room Anakin understood what the droid meant, there were parts laying everywhere on the floor. He was a bit bad at cleaning up after himself after all.

"Perhaps you would like to do something about that, C-3PO"

The droid bent itself backwards and raised its arms. "Oh no, I'm not programmed for cleaning!"

"Well, there's always a first for everything"

It did not take long for the two of them to clean up the room and make it presentable again. Anakin felt that it was good to have someone else here than Garth, even thou the droid was a bit slow sometimes. Speaking of Garth, the man should return soon from whatever mission he had. All Anakin knew was that it involved the death of a Jedi master named Qui-Gon Jinn, but otherwise nothing else.

Anakin remembered a reporter on the holonet speaking about the man's death, the experienced Jedi Master was very liked on many worlds and particularly on Naboo. Anakin also remembered the beautiful Queen of Naboo, Padme Amidala. The Queen had held a speech about the Jedi Master but all Anakin could remember was how perfect she was. He had followed up on her from time to time; now she was Naboo's representative on the senate.

But the aged Jedi died almost 4 years ago, what could Palpatine want with that? Shaking himself from these thoughts, Anakin decided to continue with his swordsmanship. Sometime later after his exercise, there was someone calling in the communications room. Moving over there Anakin realized it was his master. He moved over to the holopad and went down on one knee and then accepted the call.

Before his eyes appeared ones again the giant face of his master, "Apprentice, I have urgent news"

Anakin remained silent, urgent news of what he wondered.

"It has come to my attention that Garth has been captured…by Jedi"

Anakin furrowed his brow. "Wh…What? How?"

"The man finished his assignment but on his way back the Jedi intercepted him, he is being held captive, as chancellor I have to alert the Jedi…eventually." Palpatine raised his hand and pointed towards Anakin. "But I hope you will find a way to free him before that. Garth could reveal some very important information."

Anakin felt shock at what he was hearing, "There's no way Garth would say anything willingly." He assured himself as much as he tried to assure Palpatine.

"Nevertheless he needs to get free; he is now located on Bimmisaari. The Jedi that captured him are Obi-Wan Kenobi, an experienced Jedi Night well on his way to being a Master." Palpatine wrinkled his brow "If you follow this signal you'll find them. Luck was on our side, the Jedi's ship malfunctioned which should give you enough time." Palpatine informed and then told him the frequency. "There is a ship located in a valley nearby, take that ship and remove anyone who is there"

"It will be done, master" Anakin said as confident as he could. How had Palpatine found out about the ship? He decided there was no time to worry about that now; his only concern was to save his best friend and mentor.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The trip to Bimmisaari was uneventful, Anakin tried to think of different scenarios. He could try to get the Jedi by surprise or he could charge right in and engage him. Perhaps lay a trap or create a diversion. Whatever he decide it had to wait until he had more information about the situation. The frequency given to him showed the location of a beacon, the beacon was most likely inside the Jedi's damaged ship. There's also the possibility of the Jedi having the beacon on himself, in any case he had to approach to area carefully.

Activating the ion engines, Anakin began his descent towards the surface. As the ship came closer, he could see the giant forests and the plains. Strangely there didn't seem to be any other terrain, except for the cities of course. The trees weren't as tall and majestic as those of Kashyyyk, but they sure were tall. Anakin steered the ship towards the signal, which brought him to the capital city of Glastro.

Approaching one of the docking areas, he touched down on one of the landing pads. He brought with him a datapad that was compatible with tracking the frequency before leaving the ship. As soon as the hanger doors opened, Anakin got a giant surprise. Tiny apes were everywhere. Of course they weren't apes; the inhabitants of Bimmisaari are called Bimm. They were small, furry and had floppy ears.

Just as shocking to see them, the next thing he saw was even more surprising. They were helping each other, all of them. There was no foul language or any violence, everyone was just so nice. Anakin had never seen such a peaceful and hospitable people. It was very odd but strangely exciting to see.

Shaking his head, he began to move towards the beacon and to him it seemed that for every step he took, someone of these tiny creatures wanted to greet him and wish him a good day. Frankly, it was very disturbing. He tried his best to greet them so they would leave him alone, and began to quicken his pace.

After twenty minutes the signal brought him to an industrial area. Shielding himself with the force, Anakin continued inside. In one of the buildings here were Garth, and his captivator. He needed to be on high alert; no doubt the Jedi would be guarding Garth carefully. Moving on it became clear that the building to his right had the beacon. Using the force Anakin jumped up to a sidewalk located on the buildings left side.

Still using the force to shield his presence, he began sneaking his way along the buildings long side. Approaching a window he raised his head to see what was inside. On the opposite side was Garth with his hands tied behind his back, and the Jedi sitting a few metres in front of him. Apparently they were talking, judging from Garth's moving mouth. But he couldn't hear what they were talking about.

Forcing the window open very carefully, he climbed inside and landed gracefully on a big pipe that were hanging from the ceiling. The pipe went through the entire building, and so he began to move closer. It took him less than a minute to get in range to hear what they were talking about.

Garth narrowed his eyes. "I won't tell you anything so you can stop with your questions"

"Not likely, who are you working for and how did you manage to get the device?" Obi-Wan said once more, he must have repeated that question a few times now.

Garth frowned. "I told you, I won't say anything. Besides you're a Jedi, you could never make me talk"

The Jedi raised his eyebrows "Oh can't I now. I found a way to disarm you didn't I? I'm sure I'll find a way to get you to talk, if I can't then the Jedi council will."

After hearing that, Garth began to worry. He doubted they would be kind to a Dark Jedi like him. But he would hold on for as long as he could, but with the combined power of the Jedi Counsel, he doubted he would last long.

Anakin steadied his body and launched himself towards the unsuspecting Jedi. He was only half a metre away now, activating his lightsaber Anakin was sure this would be easy. Only to find his lightsaber clashed with another one. To Jedi had sensed in the last second the danger he was in and managed to block the incoming attack.

Landing in a crouch and remaining there, Anakin pointed his lightsaber in front of him. The floors bright colour was now a combination of red and blue. "Hello there. Another Dark Jedi comes to the rescue, I almost didn't have time to react" Obi-Wan praised his young assailant.

Crap. That was the only thought on Anakin's head now. The element of surprise was gone and with it his best chance of winning. Standing up, he began to advance forward slowly. Anakin realised that he was at a disadvantage, but if he went on the defensive he would be even more at a disadvantage.

He stopped masking his presence in the force and attacked ferociously with combinations of strikes. Combining attacks with the power of the force to make them even heavier. Forcing Obi-Wan to retreat, victory seemed so close now. With every strike Anakin gained more confidence.

But suddenly the older Jedi countered his strikes, and it was getting more and more difficult to keep advancing. Not before long did Anakin find himself on the retreat, having to block more and more. Finding himself without enough time to launch a counter attack. The clashing of lightsaber's echoed in the large building, attracting the interest of some of the workers in the area. A small group had now formed in the front entrance.

Garth was trying his best to distract the Jedi by screaming all sorts of things, calling the man names Anakin had never heard. But it did not seem to help, Obi-Wan still advanced. After two equally strong strikes the two of them flew backwards, creating some distance between them.

"It's useless, you can't win. Surrender now and face the judgement of the Jedi council." Obi-Wan tried to reason.

"I'll never surrender" Anakin said as confident as he could, but he knew the most likely outcome of this fight. His element of surprise was over; his strong attacks afterwards had no effect, and now the Jedi had the upper hand. Realising he wouldn't win by strength or skill, Anakin tried a different path that was still open to him. Getting into a fighting stance, Anakin prepared himself.

Obi-Wan was impressed with the young Dark Jedi, he obviously had training. And the man he captured was probably the boy's master. But he realised that the boy probably wouldn't give up, as he would not give up to save his own master. Only, his master had died before he got there. Seeing the younger boy getting into a fighting stance ones more, Obi-Wan did the same.

It's now or never, Anakin thought. Just as both were ready to advance, Anakin turned around and launched his lightsaber towards the crowed that had formed. The lightsaber cut thru a console belonging to a large metal container before returning to his hand. The container was starting to vibrate and make very loud noises.

"Stop me or help them. Choose quickly" Anakin said before running towards Garth. Thankfully for Anakin, the Jedi chose the noble path. While the Jedi was focused on helping the innocent people, Anakin used his lightsaber to cut through Garth's bindings. And immediately the both of them disappeared.

Obi-Wan had managed to push away the crowed with the force and were now trying to stop the container from blowing up. Seeing no way to stop the immediate explosion, Obi-Wan had to use the force to get away, mere seconds before the entire right part of the building blew up. By the time the flames had turned down, his captive along with the younger boy had escaped. Disappointed to have lost his captive, Obi-Wan had to give the boy some credit. When his abilities and skill didn't cut it, the boy had used his cunning to get what he wanted. Before leaving, Obi-Wan got the feeling he would run into the boy again someday.

Anakin and Garth ran as fast as they could, the older man after the younger one. They didn't speak, all focus lay on getting to the ship and leave as fast as possible. Fifteen minutes later, both of them sat strapped in the cockpit of The Escape.

Garth smiled slowly. "I'm so glad you came, Anakin. Or else I would have been done for"

Anakin relaxed his appearance. "I couldn't leave my favourite friend and mentor in the hands of the Jedi, now could I?"

"No I suppose you couldn't. But how did you find me? I never had to chance to contact anyone about my location."

"Thankfully the Jedi's ship took some damage, which I believe you had something to do with"

"I might have" Garth answered, very satisfied with himself.

"In any case, it forced the Jedi to contact the chancellor for backup. Giving me enough time to mount a rescue"

"Ah I see, well I'm very glad you did." Garth shook his head. "That Jedi, Obi-Wan, could be a serious problem in the future. I've never face anyone stronger than him"

"Yes he could, but that just means that we have to become stronger, doesn't it?" Anakin began steering the ship towards space.

"Isn't this the ship that has been in one of the valleys back on Begeren?"

"How did you know about the ship?" Anakin suddenly became alarmed, had both Garth and Palpatine known about it the whole time?

"Well I discovered it a while back, and a few weeks later I returned. Then the ship had changed a bit, so I figured you were working on it." Garth made a half-hearted shrug. "But don't worry about it; I know a lot of different reasons for keeping it to yourself, so I won't say anything more about it. After all, if you didn't have this ship, you couldn't have saved me" Garth finished with a broad smile.

Anakin just nodded and was pleased Garth wouldn't make a big thing out of it. Well no point in hiding it further away from the compound now, Anakin thought. Punching in the hyperspace coordinates; both of them relaxed into their chairs and began the journey back home.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

AU

This was the hardest chapter to write so far, I changed it maybe four times and had a hard time getting it right. I did bring in a bit of C-3PO, it was a little difficult to get into his way of talking, so I hope I got it right. Obi-Wan also made an appearance, did you miss him? In any case, hope you enjoyed it.


	8. Chapter 8: Senator

**Becoming Darth Vader**

I would like to thank my reviewers, those who added my story to their alerts and favorites, and to all anonymous readers.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.

**Chapter 8**

As soon as they touched down on Begeren, both were in the communications room. They needed to report to Palpatine; as such both of them knelt on the holopad. The giant familiar face appeared "Ah Garth, it's good to see you're alright. No doubt to young Anakin"

Anakin felt some pride hearing those words; he always liked getting praise from his master. Just as he was about to open his mouth, Garth beat him to the punch. "Yes, he deserves as much praise as he can get. Without him I'm sure I would be in front of the Jedi Counsel by now"

"Yes, that would be unfortunate for the both of us, but it seems your training of Anakin has paid off. And speaking of training, I want you Anakin to come to Naboo so I can personally evaluate your abilities."

"It will be done, master" Anakin answered without hesitation.

"As for you Garth, you should rest. I might have to call upon your services before long." Turning his attention to Anakin he continued "Did you have any trouble with the ship?"

"None whatsoever master."

"As expected. Because of your success, you can keep the ship. No doubt you'll need one of your own now that you have expanded your abilities" The older man finished.

"Thank you my master, I'll leave for Naboo as soon as possible"

Nodding his head Palpatine began asking Garth questions about what happened. Taking that as his permission to leave, Anakin went to prepare for his departure.

The only preparations needed was to change his uniform, he had several identical ones. Moving into his room he could see C-3PO standing deactivated in the corner, their first interaction had been brief, but the droid had to wait. Changes his attire Anakin went towards The Escape to begin the journey to Naboo.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Naboo was a very beautiful planet. That was the thought in Anakin's head as he walked beside Palpatine down the street. His master had decided to meet him at the landing pad, and the older man was now talking about the history of the planet and other things of notice. Of course they weren't alone, as the chancellor of the republic, Palpatine had a few guards with him almost all the time. Anakin tried to keep his focus on the words of his master, but with the beautiful surrounding, the guards close proximity and the thought that he might get the chance to see the senator Amidala, it was very hard.

He couldn't say he had a crush on her but she had lived an impressive life. She became Queen at such a young age, taking part in the battle against the trade federation, and now serving as a senator. Anakin was impressed, and her beautiful appearance had absolutely nothing to do with his fascination, or so he would tell himself.

It did not take long before they came to Palpatine's estate located in the east part of the city Theed. It was huge to say the least; there was a very large courtyard in front of the building. Moving through the courtyard, Anakin laid notice to all the large statues that surrounded the walkway. Appreciating them for their artistic value, it did seem he had the same taste as his master when it came to art.

When they finally came inside, two of the guards waited outside to entrance and two others guarded the gate to the courtyard. Leaving Anakin and his master alone in the estate. Palpatine continued his walk inside and turned to the room to their right, before continuing down a staircase to the lower levels. Anakin followed not too far behind, trying to take in as much information as he could from the rooms.

When he finally made his way downstairs, the surrounding completely changed. Upstairs you get the impression of a wealthy person living here, but it was completely different downstairs in the lower levels. There was no art whatsoever and many different equipment. Moving further inside, Palpatine had stopped and waited for him inside a large round room. Obviously this is where his evaluation is suppose to take place.

"So my apprentice, how strong have you become since our last meeting?" Palpatine inquired.

About an hour later the test was finished, he had begun showing his improvements with his lightsaber. Followed by different other test to evaluate his ability to use the force. Judging from his master's pleased expression, Anakin thought he did well.

"I believe you are ready to expand your knowledge, apprentice" Palpatine began "As you probably have realised long ago, I am Sith"

"Yes, it was not that hard to realise" Anakin confirmed.

"Nevertheless, I don't think you really understand what it means to be a Sith. From your reading in the archives I provided you, you should know about the Rule Of Two?"

"Of course master, it states that there should only be two, no more, no less. One to embody the power, the other to crave it." Anakin raised his hand to stroke his chin "First brought to use by Darth Bane if I remember correctly"

"You remember correctly my apprentice, but you should also know what that means. There already are two Sith, myself and my Sith apprentice Darth Tyranus, which you will be meeting eventually. As such my Sith knowledge will be denied to you."

Anakin thought about it for a moment "What you really mean is that you won't teach me the secrets of the Sith until Darth Tyranus has been removed?"

Palpatine nodded "You assume correct, I am always searching for a stronger apprentice. Searching for someone who might be powerful enough one day to surpass me and make the Sith even stronger."

"And you believe this Darth Tyranus can do that?"

"Lord Tyranus is powerful, of that there is no doubt. He also has...attributes that make him even more valuable. You will have to train hard if you want to replace him one day."

Anakin felt enlightened by this conversation but a thought suddenly occurred to him, "But if there is only two, than that means Darth Tyranus might surpass you one day."

"Yes, if he is strong enough. And should such a time come, then you will have to prove your worth to him instead."

A silence was created, both of them lost in thought for a moment. In Anakin's head there were many thoughts and questions at the moment; one of them was that if this Lord Tyranus was strong enough to replace Palpatine, would he still be in the Sith Lords interest. Or would he suddenly find himself being a target of the new Master of the Sith.

Anakin was brought out of his thoughts by Palpatine's voice "I have decided to give you a gift apprentice, for impressing me and managing to save one of my agents. This is a Lignan Crystal; it is a powerful lightsaber crystal. The crystals composition makes the blade burn with more energy and to make it last much longer." Taking out a small box from inside his robes, Palpatine opened it and stretched forward.

Anakin took the crystal. Holding the crystal in his hand, Anakin felt warmth on the surface of his hand. The crystal seemed to respond to the force and when it touched his hand it began to glow. "Thank you my master"

"Now, while I am gone on business. I suggest you assemble your lightsaber with your new gift" And with that the older man left the room. Sparing no time, Anakin did just that.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Having just finished the construction of his lightsaber, Anakin balanced the weapon in his hand. With the new crystal in place, it just felt right. Like the two of them belonged together. His master had returned just before he finished and was now also admiring the weapon. It was no secret to Palpatine that Anakin had an unnatural strong affinity for technological engineering, something he could have use for in the future.

It did not take long thou before Palpatine wanted to expand the boys ability with Djem So, Palpatine himself was almost a master of all the seven forms. Watching Anakin go through the strikes and sequences, he realised now that the boy actually could surpass him one day. Since the moment he learned of his old masters scheme to create the perfect being, he had known that the boy had more potential than any other being that has ever lived. But it was now when he saw Anakin train that he could finally see that potential being realised.

Imagine having that power serving the Sith, that thought brought a gleeful smile to his wrinkled old face. Lord Tyranus would have to watch himself soon, only he was too valuable to lose now. Palpatine needed the old Jedi Master turned Sith Lord for his plans to come to fruition. He needed the man's political contacts and the man had a deep understanding for both politics and for diplomacy. Yes he needed him...for now.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Repeating the movements over and over had allowed his body to memorize them and to do them again without thought. The pointers Anakin received from his master were very helpful, now his body moved in instinct when performing them. His master had left some time ago, leaving Anakin to spend the rest of the day as he wished. After continuing his training for a while, Anakin decided to explore the city. But he better take a shower first, his clothes did not smell too good.

It did not take long before he was ready to set out, making sure to hide his new weapon Anakin began moving out of the estate. It was the middle of the day with the sun beaming down warmth. The entire city seemed to be moving someplace today; all the streets were packed with people. Anakin began his exploration by going to the royal palace. The palace was a majestic piece of architecture, easily bigger than the stronghold he visited on Khar Ogun.

The palace was located at the edge of a cliff with several white, frothy cascades of water falling into a lake. It was here the monarch of Naboo resided. After spending some time admiring the palace, Anakin went to several different places, he visited the Street Of Glory, Theeds University and finally he found himself wandering into a secluded park. It was almost devoid of people, a perfect place to relax.

Anakin could smell the fresh mowed grass and dusty leaves. The park itself had a few tall trees, a couple of stone benches and some decorative rocks with a pond in the middle. The only sound he could hear was the wind going through the leaves and the patter of water hitting the edges of a stone fountain.

Walking through the park Anakin eventually found himself going to a small platform that had a great view over the palace waterfalls. When he finally set foot on the platform he realised someone else was there, turning around he was about to leave when he heard. "You don't have to leave you know. There's plenty of room for the both of us"

Turning around he laid notice of who had spoken to him, judging from the persons back and the voice, it was a she. He approached the edge of the platform, standing a few metres away from the other person and said "I didn't want to disturb"

The person finally turned around and faced him "Oh I'm sure it has nothing to do me being who I am"

Anakin was shocked, the person before him was Senator Padme Amidala. The person he had been fascinated about for a very long time. He wanted to say so many things but the words just wouldn't come out.

"Lost for words are you?"

Anakin shook his head. "Wh...What no. It's just that I find you fascinating"

"Find me fascinating do you, that's sounded creepy" The senator put her arms on her hips and stomped her foot.

"We...Well what I mean are that you have accomplished so much. It make you a very interesting person" Anakin finally managed to get out.

She was still stomping her foot, he was sure she would call her guards very soon if he didn't apologise. But before he could she replied "Nah I'm just joking with you, I'm not pissed" smiling broadly she continued "It's refreshing to pull these sorts of things sometimes, believe me kid, politics do not have a sense of humour."

Anakin let out a breath of relief. "Yeah I'll try to remember that"

"So what are you doing out here, almost no one comes here anymore, which is sad really. It's such a beautiful place."

I know something else that's beautiful he thought. "Well I'm visiting a friend who is now occupied which left me with a lot of free time" It wasn't a complete lie; technically he was visiting, just not visiting a friend.

"That's nice, so where are you from?" she said as she turned back to watch the waterfalls.

"From Tatooine actually, a planet with a lot of sand."

"Oh Tatooine, I visited there ones. Not too many good memories from that place though."

Anakin could hear how sad she sounded at the end so he left it alone. They continued to talk for a while, Anakin telling her that he was working in the mechanics business, fixing various machines and devices. Moving on to other subjects, it had taken almost an hour before they got interrupted. A guard had been sent to collect her for something; Anakin didn't really pay any attention to it.

"Well it was fun talking to you..."

"Oh I didn't realise. I'm Anakin." Stretching out his hand to greet her. Taking his hand in hers and performing one strong shake. "It was nice meeting you Anakin."

"It was nice meeting you too, my lady." She looked at him in a funny way but made no comment, and then went on her way along with her guard.

Anakin felt strange, he felt, was it happiness? Whatever it was it left a good feeling in his chest, it's not the same feeling he got when he used to play with his mother back on Tatooine, but it was similar. He couldn't pinpoint what it was but he just felt good, very good.

He was still standing on the platform looking over the landscape when he realised he had been here for almost an hour passed the time when the senator left. Time just seemed to pass by faster than it usually does. On the entire way back to his master's estate, he couldn't stop thinking about his interaction with the beautiful senator.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

AU

Well another chapter for you. It was surprisingly hard to write the dialogue between Anakin and Padme. But I think it went okay, but not much more than that.

Please let me know what you think.


	9. Chapter 9: Tatooine

**Becoming Darth Vader**

I would like to thank my reviewers, those who added my story to their alerts and favorites, and to all anonymous readers.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.

**Chapter 9**

Anakin was trying to implement another move into one of his sequences. The process required much repetition with his lightsaber, not only to get the timing right, but also to make his body move on instinct instead of having to think consciously about it. The anticipation and speed had to be perfect, in a fight no error could happen, because if it did, it could lead to catastrophic consequences. Palpatine had personally overseen his current training and had helped him with this new move.

He ended his workout by doing three consecutive strikes and then deactivated his blade. Anakin was glad that it was over, he could feel how heavy his eyelids were and how his muscles ached. He rubbed at his face and eyes before venturing over to Palpatine. His master seemed slack with loose limbs and making no fast movements.

Palpatine took a deep satisfying breath. "I'm impressed with you apprentice, I believe you need no further assistance at the moment." The man crossed his arms. "Sadly I need to return to Coruscant. I'm sure you will find something to do until I call upon you."

Anakin's breath and heartbeat had finally slowed down. "Yeah resting sounds good now."

"Yes, you have earned it. Now I'll take my leave." Smiling, the older man left Anakin alone in the round training room. Moving his heavy and aching body, Anakin went straight to his bed.

Several hours had past when he awoke, standing up in an erect posture with his shoulders drawn back and with his chin raised. The fatigue gone like it had never existed, he moved down to the kitchen to get something to eat. It was during breakfast the thought of Padme returned, their meeting yesterday had brought feelings he had forgotten. It was these feelings that now reminded him of his mother.

What had happened to her after he left? Did someone bury her? He realized he needed to know, and now that he had some free time, it was a good opportunity to find out. Finishing breakfast and getting dressed, Anakin began walking towards the spaceport. The port was a marvel really with its giant pillars and gleaming surfaces. The port seemed to always be busy with robotic loaders and travelers. As he continued walking through the port, Anakin felt the smell of machine lubricant mixed with different body odors. As he wandered though a crowd, Anakin felt ground vibrations through his boots when a large ship docked.

Finally he arrived at The Escape, the familiar smell of canned air and the sound of computer fans swirling assaulted his senses. Approaching the cockpit, he heard the outer door seal. When seated, he punched some of the dimpled buttons on the control board and the engines started.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Anakin wasn't pleased about returning to Tatooine, he didn't have many good memories after all. But now when he had come this far, there was no idea to turn back. Steering the ship towards Mos Espa, Anakin heard the low hiss of burning dust as he entered the atmosphere. From up above everything seemed as it used to, he probably wouldn't have any trouble navigating in the city.

The ship touched down on the ground and Anakin was ready to leave. The harsh sunlight blinded him for a second and the wind blew strong making his hair flow backwards. Before leaving he scanned the area and then pulled up his hood and went towards the port door. The large metal door screeched as it opened, blowing up sand in the air. Frowning, Anakin began his walk in to the city. Starting by visiting the place where his mother died.

While standing over the spot where it happened, Anakin felt a throbbing pain in his chest and the clenching of his stomach. He wondered why she had to die; she was the nicest person he had ever met. Shaking his head, Anakin continued on. His current destination was Watto's Shop, not really paying attention to his surroundings. He stumbled into something, which turned out to be a someone. In front of him lay a Dug, their facial structures were very close to a camel and all Dugs were arboreal.

Two Twi'lek women rushed to the creature and tried to help him up, only to get cursed at. Looking closer, Anakin thought the Dug seemed familiar. The camel like creature clenched his fists. "What the fuck are you doing, human!"

Hearing the creatures' voice made Anakin realise who it was, he had bumped into Sebulba, the legendary podracer. Anakin waved a hand in dismissal. "You, need to see where your going, Dug."

The boy had no patience or interest in the Dug right now; he might have if it were not for the current circumstances. Turning away, Anakin continued to his destination.

Sebulba narrowed his eyes at the gesture and spat in the back of Anakin. Now let's see what the human will do, Sebulba thought. The people around them now paid full attention to the scene; Sebulba was famous for his short temper after all. Watching the boy turn around, he steadied himself for whatever comes next. Looking up at the boys face he immediately regretted doing so. His eyes were like the lit end of a cigarette, trying to burn a hole through him.

Anakin had just turned around to walk away when he felt something hit him in the back, did he just spit at me? He clenched and unclenched his fists, leaving his left hand closed; he could feel the nails biting into his palm. Taking a deep breath, he turned around. There the Dug was, looking so superior, it made his blood boil. Anakin continued to stare at the creature with cold, hard eyes. Grinding his teeth, Anakin raised his hand in the gesture of holding a cup.

Before he knew it, Sebulba was raised from the ground, floating and he couldn't breathe. He struggled for all he could muster but to no use, all he managed was to make a gurgling sound. His teeth clenched, he could feel his heartbeat racing and his shaking fingers trying to remove the source of his pain. Looking back at the human, he realised he had never seen such hate in someone's eyes before.

There was no sound whatsoever, no one dared say anything. Finally after nearly a minute, Sebulbas' eyes rolled back into his head and the crunching of his neck could be heard of everyone there. The body of the Dug slumped back down to the ground and did not move again. Anakin brought down his hand while smirking and lifting his chin.

Everyone there looked petrified; none of them had ever seen something like this. The two Twi'lek moved very slowly over to the Dugs body, checking if he was alive. They all knew he was dead, they had heard the breaking of his neck. But they checked anyway, too shocked to understand that there was no need.

Anakin felt his anger drain away, quickly looking around at everyone there, he realised no one of them would try to do anything about what happened. The fear was clear on all of them; he could see it on their faces and feel it through the force. Anakin continued walking, but not before taking one last glance over Sebulbas' body and seeing the happy faces of the two Twi'lek women. "You two are free now."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Anakin was still walking towards Wattos' shop, he felt better now after the incident with Sebulba. Usually if something like that happened, he would simply leave with a warning. But being here on Tatooine accelerated his anger, it being a source of great pain and hate. He needed to control himself from now on; it wouldn't be good if he attracted too much attention. Not before long did he find himself in front of Wattos' shop, only it wasn't Wattos' anymore. The sign outside now said, Bo'uhac shop.

He pulled down his hood and stroked back his hair from his face. The place did look the same, outside anyway. Moving inside Anakin realised the place looked mostly the same here as well, obviously the merchandise had changed but not the place itself. It would seem that the T-14 hyperdrive generator had been sold, Anakin remembered it because it was the most valuable thing Watto possessed in the shop.

Anakin was brought out of his thoughts by a familiar voice. "Ani, is that you?"

Turning around he saw a Rodian about the same height as himself, only a bit shorter.

Lines formed between his eyebrows. "Wald, oh my god! It is you." Wald and he used to play together when they were children. In fact Wald was the only one he played with.

The Rodian ran forward and enveloped Anakin in a hug. "You're alive, after what happened to your mother we all believed you were killed." A few seconds later the Rodian released the hug.

"No, I survived." Smiling he continued. "And look at you, working in Wattos' shop. Where is the old guy?"

The Rodian cleared his throat. "He died the same day you disappeared. Bo'uhac took over the shop afterwards."

Anakins' shoulder slumped and he tilted his chin to the side. "That's unfortunate; I had hoped to talk to him."

"What could you possible want with him? You remember how bad he was don't you?"

"Of course I remember, but I wanted to question him about my mother. I need to know what happened to her body after I left." Anakin said as he scratched his throat.

The Rodian seemed to think about it for a few seconds. "I'm sorry Ani, I don't know what happened."

"I understand." Anakin dropped his gaze. "I knew this most likely would be a ghost chase. I simply wanted some closure I guess."

There was a moment of silence between them, both of them trying to figure out what to say. It was Anakin that finally broke the silence. "So tell me how you ended up here?"

"Well after the new owner came he needed some help, and I was lucky enough to get selected. I think he felt sorry for me."

"Well he seems better than Watto anyway, which is good. "

And so they continued talking for a while, a few customers came and went but not enough to disturb them. Of course Wald had to have a watchful eye on the shop; crime was high here after all.

"Well, I need to get going. It was good to see you again Wald" Anakin stretched out his hand, and the Rodian shook it firmly. "I hope I get to see you again, Anakin."

And with that Anakin left the store, feeling both disappointed and satisfied at the same time. It was a very strange feeling, the purpose for coming here proved unfruitful but seeing Wald again made the trip worthwhile. Leaving the store, Anakin was greeted by the Two Twi'lek from before. They both still had the same yellow outfit with dark blue collars.

"Uhm... Excuse us Master, do you remember us?"

Master? What were they walking about? Anakin raised a brow. "Of course I remember you were with Sebulba."

Anakin could see both the Twi'leks cheeks clenching at hearing the name, obviously they hated the Dug. "Yes that's right. The thing is, since you killed him we now belong to you." The woman standing to the left said.

"What did you say?" Anakins' mouth fell open. "Could you repeat that?"

This time it was the one on the right who answered. "We belong to you now, master."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing; did ownership fall to him because he killed their previous owner? His eyes bulged at the thought. He did not support slavery, but he understood why it existed and that it had its uses. There were two options available to him, One: release them, that way he would never see them again. Of course the most likely result would be that someone else claimed them. Two: Take the ownership for them. But what would his master think of that. Somehow Anakin knew he would most likely support it.

Anakin took a deep breath. "What are your names?"

"I am Ann Gella." The woman to the right began. "And I am Tann Gella, where twins."

That would explain why they are so alike, he thought. The women were both very beautiful and were most likely exotic dancers. Anakin theorized as they didn't interfere with Sebulbas death.

"What was your profession when serving Sebulba?"

"We mostly carried messages and provided...massage services." Tann Gella said while flinching away.

Anakin took the gesture for what it was; he felt disgust just being near the Dug. He turned around and started walking. "Come with me."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Later back at the ship, Anakin had ordered both of them to sit down and answer all his questions. He wanted to know about their upbringing, how they became slaves and who had owned them before. Their answers brought satisfaction and disappointment. They had no family; as such he couldn't track them down and release them there. But the interesting part was that they had ones belonged to Jabba The Hutt, the famous crime lord.

Apparently Jabba had an agent in the local cantina that announced and handled bounties set by Jabba himself. That was useful information. Anakin could see from their bruises that Sebulba liked to discipline his servants, he really was glad now that the bastard was dead. He stopped with his questions and told the two women to stay in the ship until he returned. Then he left, ones more walking into the city.

It did not take him long to find the cantina the women had described to him, going inside he was assaulted by the smell of liquor. He could practically taste the alcohol and sweat in the air. The sight of the place wasn't helping either, there were many small round tables with drunks. Probably were the smell comes from, he thought.

Observing the people inside the cantina, he finally found who he was looking for. The Twi'lek Bib Fortuna, he had never seen a stranger Twi'lek. This one had white skin colour and orange eyes. In Anakins' eyes the man looked disgusting. He walked over, careful to sidestep the drunkards laying on the floor.

"Are you Bib Fortuna?"

The white Twi'lek raised a brow. "Bah, like you don't know who I am." He raised his hand and pointed it towards Anakin. "Who are you?"

"Who I am is not important, all I want to know is about the current bounties you have."

Fortuna chuckled. "Aren't you a bit young for hunting dangerous men?"

Anakin narrowed his eyes. "You should not concern yourself with my age, only in what I can offer."

"Your right of course, the only bounty I have now is for Longo Two-Guns. It was made personally from Jabba The Hutt, the bounty is 50 000 credits dead and 80 000 alive."

Anakins' eyes widened. "Any other information you can give?"

"He has associates, although they are still unknown. That's all I know. If you manage to find him, take his body here but to the back entrance."

Nodding, Anakin turned and walked out of the cantina, thinking about his next move.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

AU

Please let me know what you think.

I found some star wars humour and thought I'd share them with you; I posted them on my profile, so check it out if you have the time.


	10. Chapter 10: The Hunt

**Becoming Darth Vader**

I would like to thank my reviewers, those who added my story to their alerts and favorites, and to all anonymous readers.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.

**Chapter 10**

Anakin had just left the cantina and was now on his way back to The Escape. But now before stopping at a nearby shop to get some food, he needed to find someone who knew a lot of the shady things that occur here. It was very unlikely that Longo was here in Mos Espa, Jabbas' goons would have found him by know. And he knew just the people who might know something.

It did not take long to walk back to the ship; both of his new associates were sitting together in the cockpit. As soon as they noticed him, they stood up and looked sharp. Anakin threw them one box each. "Here I brought some food."

From the way the dug in, Anakin guessed they were very hungry. "What do you about bounties?"

Looking up, still with a full mouth, it was Ann Gella who swallowed first. "We don't know much. Could you be a bit more specific?"

Well he supposes that wasn't very specific of him. "I want to know if you have ever heard about someone called Longo Two-Guns? And if you have, does he have any associates?"

This time it was the other twin who answered. "Sebulba met with someone at times, they never said any names, but they did mention something about needing to check on Two-Guns."

Anakin took a deep breath. "And who is this someone?"

"I don't remember, but he was a male Clantaani. Sebulba used to meet him in a warehouse in Mos Eisley, but we were never allowed to go with him inside." Both of them shifted their positions. "I'm sorry we don't know anymore."

He smiled and made a non threatening gesture. "Don't worry, you both did good. Now do you think you can show me that warehouse?"

The twins looked at each other, coming to some sort of silent agreement before nodding.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Mos Eisley, Anakin had never been there. But he imagined it to be almost the same as Mas Espa, and he was right. There didn't seem to be any differences between them, crime was just as high, the blinding sun was still here and both cities were filled with the scum of the galaxy. Of course the cities layouts differ, but otherwise they practically were the same.

Touching down the ship, the trio began moving into the city. Anakin allowed the other two to take the lead, while he followed and inspected everyone he saw. He needed to be on alert, the two Twi'lek were very beautiful, so who knew what could happen. Unfortunately he didn't have any other clothes to shield them; he did have a spare uniform for himself. But that was too small for any of them to fit into. Of course most didn't even care about them, letting them pass by without even looking.

Finally after 30 minutes of walking in the blistering sun, they arrived to a more secluded area. The girls told him it was the building to the far right; it was a large warehouse in stone. Nodding his head, Anakin went back with the women to the ship. He had to make sure nothing happened to them after all. Anakin told them to stay inside the ship until he returned.

Walking the same way once more, he snuck up to the building. Reaching out with the force, he sensed no presence or danger. The large front door was locked; he had to find another way inside. On closer inspection, half of the building was made out of stone, the other half from a metal. The part made of stone had no windows at all, thankfully the other part did. Jumping up to one of the windows, Anakin grabbed the edge of the window and carefully looked inside.

Judging by the looks of things, no one was inside. Using the force he quietly forced the window open and pulled himself inside. Standing up on a walkway, Anakin observed the ground before him. There were marks on the floor and a few footprints from all the sand that had blown inside. So they come here sometimes after all, he thought. There were also a few remote control cars and some spare parts lying around. But nothing of real interest, except for the three speeder bikes parked in the middle. Perhaps for a fast getaway, he thought.

As this was his best lead, Anakin decided to lay in wait until they showed up. While waiting, he found a credit hidden in the sand. It was a standard credit, the few scratches on it were telling something about its history. It would seem that the force was on his side today, as he could hear a couple of people talking just outside the giant door. Hiding himself in the shadows, Anakin waited for them to come inside.

The giant door began to open and finally he could see three people standing in the opening. Sadly none of them seemed to be a Clantaani. That would have been too easy I suppose, Anakin thought. The three men were all carrying heavy baggage and started to mount it on the speeders. They seemed to be in a hurry, the sound of three engines staring assaulted Anakins' ears. When none of them was looking, he threw a tracker towards one of the speeders. The tracing device landed perfectly between the engine and the driver seat.

A few seconds later, the three unknown men left. Checking his wrist gauntlet, Anakin opened the data uplink showing the trackers' current location. He had a perfect signal. Smiling, he activated the comlink to his ship. Anakin had fixed the comlink himself, implementing complex security devices that prevented unauthorized use, along with other functions such as sound reproduction matrices and ports for data transmission.

It did take almost a full minute before the connection established. "Hello?"

From the sound of the voice, Anakin assumed it was Ann Gella who answered. She was just a bit taller than her sister and her voice was a little deeper. "It's me, how are both of you holding up?"

There was a silence, a long one before a shocked voice could be heard. "Were fine."

"Good, I'll be gone for a while longer. I still want you to stay in the ship." Without waiting for a response, he dropped the connection.

It was good that they were following orders; from the bruises he saw earlier, it would seem that they knew it would be best to follow orders without question. Forcing himself to not think of the disgusting Dug, he exited the building through the same window he entered through.

Searching the nearby area, he found a few speeders parked close to the exit. It only took a few seconds to hijack the speeder and start the engine. He steered the speeder towards the exit and after the tracker.

Eventually the tracker brought him towards a minor township out in the desert; it would seem to be their hideout. Night had come and with it the temperature dropped significantly. Parking the speeder behind a large sand dune, Anakin snuck closer as quietly as he could. A few moments later, he found himself hiding behind the first building in his sight. Looking at his gauntlet, he realised the tracker was very close, just about fifty metres to his left.

Using stealth to the best of his ability, he moved closer and closer. Finally reaching the location, the speeder along with the other two was parked outside a small house. Not many people were awake, but some had gathered around a bonfire. Observing the people present, he realised none of the three he was looking for was there. A couple of voices to his side drew his attention, he began to move closer. For every step he took the voices became clearer, and finally he could hear what they were talking about.

After a few minutes of listening, the men had mentioned a podracer hangar and how fond their leader was of it. Anakin stayed a while longer but heard nothing more of use. Then suddenly, few explosions happened. Bringing everyone to their feet and rushing off. Another bounty hunter or a rival gang perhaps, he thought.

Using the commotion to his advantage, Anakin snuck closer to the hangar. There were people yelling inside and he could hear several blaster shots. Using the force, he jumped up and landed on the roof. From here he could see someone fighting a lot of men by himself; the lone man wore a Mandalorian helmet and armor. Judging from the flow of the fight, the man seemed highly skilled. I better take care of this now, Anakin thought.

He jumped down and landed just outside the front entrance, without wasting time, Anakin dashed forward blocking bolts of fire from his assailants. There were six men inside the hangar, and now they all had their attention on him. Two of them went down from their own fire being returned to them. Furthest inside was a Clantaani with two rather large blasters, and the man was really good at using them. Anakin had to rely on his acrobatics to get closer. A thumping sound was all the warning he got before the grenade exploded. Anakin just managed to jump away, saving his life. But his cloak had been set on fire, which forced him to take cover behind one of the pods.

Quickly throwing off the cloak, Anakin jumped up high in the air and summoned the force. Letting out a wave of telekinetic energy that pushed two of his enemies through the outer wall. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he dashed forward. Throwing his lightsaber and hitting the guy on the left, while simultaneously dodging the incoming fire. Now it was only him against the leader.

The leader eyes narrowed at the sight before him, never had he imagined that one man would be able to infiltrate their camp and defeat his most loyal followers. It would seem his bounty must be pretty high for someone of this calibre to come after him. But the man, no boy, before him fought likes a Jedi. But Jedi do not accept bounties.

"Who are you?"

"I am your end." Anakin began advancing forward, his blade pointed firmly ahead of him. The fighting at the other end of the camp had begun to slow down, and through the force Anakin could feel the presence of several people moving closer.

The Clantaani brought his shoulders back, chest out and raised his chin. "I have defeated all before me, and I'll defeat you!"

The blaster bolts hailed down upon Anakin, forcing him to stay where he were. Every time he tried to advance and shorten the distance, the Clantaani would roll around and dodge to the sides while continuing to shot. Anakin was still blocking and waiting for the right moment. Now, he thought.

Just as the Clantaani landed behind one of the pods, Anakin let out a strong push with the force. Making both the pod, and his enemy, fly into the wall behind them. Running over, Anakin checked if he still had a pulse, which he fortunately did. He moved the pod away from the body and cut a hole in the wall with his blade. Immediately disappearing out into the night, carrying the target on his back as he moved closer to the speeder.

Reaching the speeder, he put down the unconscious body. He could still hear the fighting in the small town but paid it no heed. Firing the engines he began the journey back to Mos Espa.

Travelling in the night on Tatooine was not something to recommend, as soon as the sun goes down the temperature drops fast. Add that to the gushing winds of the speeder, it was not a pleasant experience without something to shield your face. Anakin had to use the force to block out the cold; it was a bit interesting to him how this planet could change so much just by having the sun disappear for a short while.

Arrving back at Mos Espa, the city were almost empty this late at night. Pulling the unconscious body onto his back, he began walking towards the cantina. Remembering this time to take the back entrance, he opened the door with the force and walked in. The room was very plain, green rock walls with just one table and three chairs. Two guards were standing beside the table and the white Twi'lek Fortuna sitting in the middle.

Seeing the body of Longo on the boys' back brought a large smile to the Twi'leks' face. Jabba had wanted the man dead for some time now. "Is he alive?"

The Twi'lek was met by a blank, emotionless stare. "Yes, as requested."

"Good, truth be told I didn't think you could do it."

Anakin made a half-heartened shrug. "I don't care what you believe. Now where's my credits?"

"Give the body to my guards." Fortuna pointed towards a small metal disk on the table. "This clip has the 80 000 credits as agreed, good doing business with you my young human friend."

He gave the body to the two guards, but not before taking the man's two blasters. Anakin went forward and took the clip. He scanned the clip with his gauntlet and nodded. The clip contained the exact sum as agreed upon, with that his business here was done. Moving towards the door he went through it and closed it quickly. He felt very satisfied with himself, the hunt for Longo had been exciting and the money of course would come to great use.

Now he just needed to figure out what to do with Ann and Tann Gella before leaving Tatooine once again.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

AU

Please let me know what you think.


	11. Chapter 11: Assassins

**Becoming Darth Vader**

I would like to thank my reviewers, those who added my story to their alerts and favorites, and to all anonymous readers.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.

**Chapter 11**

Anakin Skywalker was kneeling on the holopad inside The Escape, his current thoughts occupied by what to do with his new companions. He knew what he wanted, but his master might not approve of what he would be suggesting. It could be a bit risky, but it could also have great uses.

The blank, emotionless stare of his master appeared. "Apprentice, is everything alright?"

"Yes, master. I really don't know how to tell you this." Anakin pursed his lips in thought. "After you left for Coruscant, I went to Tatooine."

Palpatine raised a brow. "And what was the reason for going there?"

"I wanted to know what happened to my mother's body, master."

A long silence came between them before his master answered. "Apprentice, nothing good can come of bringing up these...old wounds."

Anakin's posture stiffened. "I needed to know master. But I was unable to find out."

Palpatine let out a satisfied sigh. "Can I trust that this is behind you now, apprentice?"

"Yes, master. But something else happened; it would seem that I acquired two slaves."

His master's eyes widened, and then offered a sad smile. "I understand, apprentice. And now you want to free them I suppose?"

Anakin took a deep breath and summoned his courage. "Actually no, master. I believe they could be of great use to us."

The shock on his master's face was clear. "And why would you think that?"

"They are both Twi'lek, twins actually." Anakin straighten his posture. "They are very beautiful, and they both have mastered the art of seduction. I believe that with a bit of training, both of them could become great assassins."

Palpatine took a moment to think it over, he had been sure that the boy would want to free them. His apprentice had been a slave one's after all, but this outcome was greatly surprising. This is the way he had hoped the boy would react, seeing the use of slaves instead of feeling sorry for them.

Palpatine grinned. "Make it happen, apprentice. If they show talent, then proceed. Otherwise get rid of them."

"It will be done, master. May I use the facility on Begeren for their training?"

"Of course, I will expect an update within one week."

"There was one other thing. On Tatooine I hunted down a mercenary with a huge bounty on his head, for Jabba The Hutt." Anakin crossed his arms. "I would like to go on hunts when you don't need me, master."

Jabba had been an obstacle to Palpatine, not the kind that had to disappear. But Jabba had several times tried to make it harder for him to become chancellor and it was known that he opposed him. "This is a good opportunity, you should try to get closer to Jabba. Gain his trust and should you come by something of value, then report back to me."

And with that giant elderly face of his master disappeared from view. The conversation went exactly as Anakin had hoped; now he had the chance to train two assassins who were only loyal to him. But his master was right, if they don't show promise, then he had to get rid of them.

Standing up, Anakin walked straight to the cockpit and sat down in the left chair in the front. His two companions had taken a seat on the two chairs to the right. Looking them straight in the eyes he announced their new future.

"Your lives as dancers and messengers is over. I have found a different use for you, which I will reveal to you when we arrive at our destination."

Both Ann and Tann looked at each other but remained silent, both happy about having something new to do.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

There had been very little talking on the way to Begeren, the two girls had not quiet mustered up the courage to talk freely yet. And Anakin really didn't have anything to say at the moment, he was mostly focused on how to start their training. He did however sneak a few glances towards them, their beauty was hard to ignore. That beauty would serve him well in the future he hoped.

Entering the atmosphere, he heard the dust burn of the plating and immediately fired up the ion engines. From up above he could see Garth's vessel, good he thought. Touching down on the ground, Anakin wasted no time in getting out. As soon he got out, Anakin stopped for a moment. Remembering the first time he came here, he let Ann and Tann get a better feel of their surroundings. Now that the girls knew their lives were not in jeopardy anymore, they had become more confident.

Moving inside Anakin showed them the training room and told them to wait there. Afterwards he went on to search for Garth, eventually finding the man inside the kitchen.

"Hello Garth."

The man nodded. "So how was Naboo?"

Taking a seat opposite to Garth, Anakin began to tell him about Naboo. "Well the city was impressive, and I got to meet Padme Amidala."

Garth smirked and cocked his head to the side. "I suppose your crush only expanded after that."

Anakin coughed. "I don't have a crush on her! I just find her…interesting."

"Uhu sure you do." Garth said while nodding. "Did anything else of interest happen?"

"Well I decided to go to Tatooine and find out about what happened to my mother."

Garth stiffened and suddenly got a heavy feeling in his stomach. "How did it go? I can't imagine it being easy to be there again."

"It wasn't hard to be there again, I'm only sorry I couldn't find out what happened to her."

Garth leaned forward and put a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "Perhaps it was for the best, now you can finally continue without having to think about it."

Anakin took a deep breath. "Perhaps your right." He got a sad smile. "What is your secret? I always feel better after talking to you."

Garth just waved his hand in dismissal and lifted his chin up. "No secret, it's simple really. I'm just that good."

"Yeah, sure you are." Anakin straightened his posture. "I also required two new associates, there here now. Palpatine want me to train them to become assassins." He raised his hand and pointed towards Garth. "And I want your help, both of them have already mastered the art of seduction. What they need is to learn how to strike, how to wait and anticipate the perfect moment. Also they need to learn how to handle different weapons."

Garth was silent for a moment. "Don't you already know all this, you should. After all I taught you that."

"Of course I will handle most of their training. But I have also been sent to keep a closer eye on Jabba The Hutt." Anakin got tension in his shoulders. "So all I ask is that you help them along when I'm not around." Suddenly Anakin's face got stiff. "But you have to promise me something."

"What?"

"Nah you have to promise me before I tell you."

Garth folded his arms across his chest and adopted a pinched expression. "Fine I promise. Now tell me what it is."

"Good. You can't make a move on them, their very beautiful and I know you."

Garth looked shocked. "I can't believe you would think so little of me."

"Yeah right, remember what happened on Coruscant?"

"That was just a onetime thing, I promise."

Anakin wrinkled his nose and his eyes appeared cold. "We were on a mission Garth. You were supposed to meet me at the rendezvous, but you never showed up." He clenched his jaw. "I was left to deal with ten mercenaries on my own, and when I finally find you." His went cold again. "I find you having sex with a prostitute. You were only supposed to follow her and see if she was connected to our target."

Garth raised a brow and adopted a 'See?' look. "I had to make sure she didn't know anything, and that she didn't smuggle any hidden…weapons. Besides you handled it fine."

The only response he got was Anakin's indifferent face and a moment of silence. "I was ten goddamn it! Anyway, you have promised."

"Yes yes, I'll be nice."

The two of them continued to talk for a little while before they went to the training room. Ann and Tann were both inspecting the different weapons and equipment in the room when Anakin and Garth arrived. Immediately when Garth saw them his jaw dropped, something Anakin noticed. "Remember you promised."

Garth looked destroyed, like he had just been denied his most cherished wish. Well perhaps he has, Anakin thought. The two women gathered in the center of the room and waited.

"This is Garth, he will be helping you with your training. And I'm Anakin, you will call us by our names and nothing else is that clear?"

The two women nodded. "Good. Unlike Sebulba, I have no use for dancers or messengers. But what I do have use for is someone with your specific…requirements." Looking over their bodies he continued. "As Twi'lek and with your appearance, the two of you can make almost any man to what you want. So the first part of your training you have already mastered, namely the art of seduction. "

Ann and Tann looked at each other, smirking. "So you already have the ability to get into the position where I want you. Now you will learn how to kill." Anakin let there be a silence, to allow what he just said to sink in. "Both me and Garth will train you to be assassins. Eventually what I want to see from you is that you have the skill, intelligence and resolve to carry out your tasks."

Anakin had to give it to them; they did take the news very well. He glanced over to Garth. "I take it you want to stay and…observe that I teach them right?"

"Of course, can't have you teaching them wrong now can I."

Anakin stuck both hands inside his robes and pulled out the two blasters he took from Longo, and then threw them to Ann and Tann. "First you will learn to get accustomed to blasters and learn how to aim correctly, and then we will move on to different weapons. You will also learn how to be stealthy, and how to wait and anticipate the right moment to strike."

He turned around and faced Garth. "Can you begin? While I arrange a room for them to stay in."

Garth nodded, and Anakin continued on his way out of the room. He had just taken a turn when he bumped into something hard and golden.

"Oh my, how rude! Oh it's you master Ani, I'm so glad to see you."

Anakin smiled at the droids antics. "Glad to see you too C-3PO. Are you working at full capacity?"

"I am happy to announce that I operate without any complications."

"That's good to hear, you wouldn't know if we have any spare beds do you?"

The droid paused for a moment. "The room next to yours have one if I remember correctly, and there should be another one inside master Garth's room."

"You mean one in his room right?"

"No I'm quite certain master Garth has two. Yes I'm certain."

Hearing that brought a mischievous smile to Anakin's face, Garth was in for a surprise tonight.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After moving the bed with C-3PO's help, Anakin went to check on the women's progress. Garth was now in the process of correcting their body position in order for them to aim better. Anakin stayed for a little while, observing their progress, then left once more, heading towards The Escape. He did after all have one more thing to do.

Going through the same routine as always, he steered the ship towards space. Punching in the coordinates and hearing the hyperdrive engage. As the hyperdrive activated, Anakin could see stars streaming past the view field, reminding him of lasers skinning against a force field. It was a sight but nothing he hadn't seen before though.

Arriving on Tatooine, Anakin was once more greeted by the hot sun. His dark robes did not help with the warmth he felt, but these sensations could be pushed aside with the force. Once more traveling through Mos Espa toward the cantina, now in the middle of the day. The place had fewer people inside, but there were always people inside a cantina no matter what the time was. Scanning the area he saw who he was looking for, it would seem that the white skinned Twi'lek Fortuna was spending a lot of time here.

Fortuna noticed Anakin approach. "If it isn't my young human friend. What can I do for you?"

"Do you have anything else of interest? Getting Longo was too easy."

"I have business, but nothing as rewarding as Longo."

Anakin ran his hand though his hair. "When you do, you can contact me on this line. You know I can deliver."

Fortuna accepted the frequency but otherwise said nothing; he only made a dismissive shake with his hand. Anakin took the gesture for what it was and left. Heading back to The Escape and traveling back to Begeren.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Two weeks passed by, but to Anakin it felt like 2 days. Training Ann and Tann was interesting, seeing them develop made him feel proud. Not proud over them, but proud over himself for being able to teach correctly. But he had to admit that he started to like them both more and more, when they finally realized he wouldn't punish them for speaking out of turn or for doing mistakes. Their personalities blossomed and with it their wish to please him rose.

Although there was parts he didn't quite like, namely his body. He was in the right age to begin appreciating women. Something Garth, Ann and Tann realized. Although the latter would stop pestering him when he told them to, but there was no shutting up Garth. How he hated the man sometimes, he guessed it was revenge for taking one of the man's beds.

But Garth had been good so far, keeping his promise. Ann and Tann had gotten the room next to his, and it was plain like everything else in the compound. The girls seemed to adapt quickly and their training was coming along fine, which pleased his master and himself. The most important thing was that they were loyal, their other qualities were not as important to him.

During his current musings, his gauntlet let out a low signal. Checking who it was, Anakin realized it was the frequency he gave to Bib Fortuna. Shutting down the signal, he continued into the communications room to accept the call.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

AU

Please let me know what you think.


	12. Chapter 12: Lord Tyranus

**Becoming Darth Vader**

I would like to thank my reviewers, those who added my story to their alerts and favorites, and to all anonymous readers.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.

**Chapter 12**

There was four dueling droids in the room, top-of-the-line training droids from Trang Robotics, they were all armed differently. One had a steel rapier, another had a heavy cudgel, the third had a chain, and the last was equipped with a pair of double-edged hachete blades that had the length and wide of a human's forearm. The droids reflexes were programmed to be just above human optimum and they had programs of several different martial arts. The droids were made with a built-in behavioral inhibitor that prevented them from striking a killing blow then they had defeated their opponent. But that did not mean that they couldn't cause injury, one mistake could cause serious damage.

Good then that Anakin Skywalker does not make mistakes.

Anakin stood in the middle of the training room located in the Works on Coruscant, his master had demanded to evaluate him here. The four droids began to circle him, he was aware of their movements and his breath was slow and calm as was his heartbeat. With the force he sensed their movements, the droids with a rapier and a chain was behind him, the other two in his field of vision.

Anakin activated his lightsaber, watching the familiar red blade appear and hearing the hissing and crackling as it appeared. The rapier droid lunged forward, aiming straight towards Anakin's chest with extreme accuracy. Summoning his anger, Anakin felt his power rise, the power resonated in him and he felt himself getting more focused. Time itself seemed to slow down before his very eyes.

Anakin turned around, twisting to the outside of the droid, and performed a horizontal strike. The blade cut cleanly through the droids sword arm, creating a loud screeching sound as both the arm and sword was severed and landed a few meters away. Anakin immediately dropped to the ground on one knee, just avoiding the full swing of the cudgel droid. Spinning around with his lightsaber stretched out, and hitting both the rapier droid and the cudgel droid in the midsection, severing them both. Anakin barely registered the black fluid flowing out of them and the many sparks from their cut circuitry.

Half of his opponents were down. The chain droid charged with its weapon swirling like a propeller. Anakin dodged to the left side and performed a strong kick with his right leg to the droids side. The force of the kick made the droid flew to the side, immediately Anakin was upon it and severed its head from its shoulders and the droid slumped down to the ground.

Now three was down and only one remains.

The hachete droid charged straight forward, striking with its razor blades high and low, seemingly following no pattern. Anakin got into a stance, waiting for the droid to come closer. It did not take long before the droid was upon him, striking with an aggressive ferocity, looking for just one opening. Anakin gave one to it by moving his left arm in a wide motion outwards, the gesture creating a large opening that exposed his side. The droid took the bait and aimed for the opening, very fast it stroke towards Anakin's side while simultaneously preparing the other blade for a follow-up attack.

Holding the blade in his right hand, Anakin pointed it downwards and made a horizontal block while performing a powerful force push right afterwards with his left hand. The droid flew back and landed on its back, unable to stay its balance. Anakin performed an overhead flip and came upon the droid from above. Landing with his two feet on top of the droids chest and his lightsaber firmly planted through the droids head.

Anakin deactivated his blade and relaxed, nodding at his performance. A few sweat pearls had formed on his forehead, but otherwise there was no sign to suggest that he had trained. His breath was even and his heartbeat had just risen a bit. If he had to guess, he would guess that the entire training session lasted about ninety seconds. Clipping his lightsaber to his belt, Anakin turned around and watched his master approach with a man he had never seen before.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Darth Tyranus, also known as Count Dooku approached the LiMerge Power building. The building was designed for manufacturing weapons; the top of the building had a couple of unadorned pillars with rounded summits, massive fins reinforced the circular base and the building had several docking areas. The building had been used by his Sith Master for a long time, and by resent times, by himself as well. He had conducted several operations from this location and used it for hiding.

Moving further inside, he was greeted by his master. "Lord Tyranus, you are right on time."

Dooku nodded. "Yes master, I was intrigued by our last talk."

Palpatine stepped forward, smirking. "Yes, it's time you met someone. Come, he is in the training chamber."

Dooku was quite curios about this meeting, his master had only told him that he had found someone of great use. As they moved closer, Dooku reached out with the force and stopped dead in his tracks. He felt a force presence more powerful than any he had ever felt.

Palpatine turned around and raised a brow. "Is there a problem, Lord Tyranus?"

Dooku steadied himself. "This boy, he is like a beacon of the force. Stronger than anything I have ever felt."

Palpatine nodded. "Yes, but come. I have instructed him to perform a test, so we can…evaluate how he can best serve our cause."

None of them said anything more and continued on their way. It did not take long before both stood in front of the protective glass that surrounded the training chamber. Before his eyes, Dooku saw a boy with light brown hair that almost reached down to his shoulders. The boy was clad in dark robes with several armor pieces and had a lightsaber hanging from his belt. So this is he, he thought.

The boy stood in the middle of the round room and was surrounded by four dueling droids. He saw his master activate the droids and they both watched very carefully.

When the fight was over, it was his master he spoke first. "He is quite impressive, don't you think?"

Dooku could see with his eyes and feel through the force that his master was pleased with the performance. "Yes he is, although his technique isn't perfect."

"He will make an excellent dark Jedi, you may use his services should the need arise, apprentice."

Dooku nodded.

"Now let's go greet him."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Anakin observed the arrival of his master and the elderly man, the man practically radiated with elegance and he had a strong stride. Anakin went down on one knee.

"Excellent work my boy, rise." Palpatine turned to his side. "This is my apprentice, Darth Tyranus."

So this is him, Anakin thought. "It's nice to meet you, Lord Tyranus. I'm Anakin Skywalker."

"Likewise, young Anakin. I was impressed with your skill."

"Thank you, my lord."

Now both turned towards Palpatine. "Anakin, Lord Tyranus might have something for you to do in the future, as such I will give you a Sith Infiltrator." He stopped for a moment to think. "The ship you have now is not equipped well enough. This datapad has the ships specifications." Anakin took the datapad but remained silent.

Palpatine continued. "Now I think it is time to inform you what it is Lord Tyranus and I want to achieve." Anakin now paid full attention. "The republic as it is now is flawed, the senate has been corrupted and that cannot be tolerated. I became chancellor to try and root out this corruption, but I can't achieve that without help."

Palpatine cleared his throat. "With yours and Lord Tyranus help, we can create a republic that the galaxy truly needs. And finally eliminate the Jedi."

Anakin thought for a moment. "But how does the Jedi affect the corruption?"

"The Jedi see everything in black and white, good or evil. Every little act they don't like is met with suspicion, thus forcing people to protect themselves and the corruption spreads." Palpatine raised his hands to his sides. "The view of the Jedi is also wrong, not only do they kidnap children when they are too young to even remember their families. They also have the belief that the force is an end in itself, but we know the truth. The force is a means to an end."

Anakin thought about it for a moment. "And that end is power." he said with resolve.

Palpatine smiled. "Precisely, but the Jedi also crave power. They claim to be servants of the people, but they have been in power for the last thousand years, and still pain, suffering and corruption is allowed." Palpatine snarled. "While they sit in their Jedi Temple and only work to bring them more secular power."

Anakin nodded, he did know Jedi were wrong, but not that they kidnap children.

Now Dooku cut in. "It is true, I was ones a Jedi. But like my master, I too realized how flawed and power hungry the Jedi had become."

"I understand." Anakin said.

Palpatine made a gesture with his hand. "Now onto other matters, because of your great performance with your former friend Sifo-Dyas. The only thing left is to find a template; I want you to do this Lord Tyranus." Palpatine smiled. "Take young Anakin with you, I'm sure he can benefit much from your experience. Also you need to take care of The Bando Gora, they have reached too far."

With that the man left, leaving Anakin alone with his new acquaintance. The elderly man seemed to be deep in thought, so Anakin remained silent.

"I believe I have a solution to this problem, come with me young Anakin."

They both marched off, and eventually came to one of the docking bays. Dooku pointed to a ship to the right. "That one is yours." Without waiting for a response, the older man continued towards his own ship.

Anakin inspected the ship from outside; the ship had a pair of folding wings around the cockpit. The ship was about 25 meters in length and had six solar ionization cannons. Anakin took up the datapad and activated it, he scanned the information it contained. Apparently the ship could carry six passengers and had a total capacity for 2.5 metric tons. The most important function of the ship was its Stygium cloaking device, capable of creating an invisible field, to allow the ship to sneak through even the most advanced of security systems.

Going over the plans, Anakin saw that the ship also had two sleeping compartments, four storage bays, a cargo hold and a lift to the upper level where the cockpit was located. It really was a magnificent ship, and he was impressed. Anakin walked inside and took the lift up to the cockpit, where the communicator blinked.

"Anakin, I want you to follow me to these coordinates." Afterwards the signal disappeared. Anakin punched in the hyperspace coordinates and activated the engines.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Anakin was on a planet he had never been to before; he didn't even know what the planet was called. It didn't really matter to him at the moment; he had just witnessed a meeting between Lord Tyranus and several other people of different species. The elderly man had placed a bounty on someone called Komari Vosa, the bounty was swindling five millions republic credits. To his surprise, the mandalorian clad man he saw on Tatooine was there. No doubt the promise of five million credits would bring a few people there.

Everyone left, leaving Lord Tyranus alone with Anakin. "I recognized one of them." Anakin said. "The one in Mandalorian armor."

Dooku seemed surprised. "Oh, and were had you met him?"

"On Tatooine actually, the man was after the same bounty as me."

"And what of his skill?"

Anakin shrugged. "I didn't see him too much in action; I merely used him as a diversion while I took the bounty."

Dooku smiled. "How cunning of you, boy."

"And what should we do now, go after this Komari Vosa ourselves?"

Dooku shook his head. "I already know where she is, we will go there now and wait for whoever get to her first."

"And where would that be?"

"Kohlma."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Anakin didn't quite like Kohlma, he couldn't pinpoint why though. Perhaps it was the large forests, or perhaps all the rocks and mountains. In any case, he didn't like it. Both he and Dooku had touched down about one kilometer away from the location of Komari Vosa. Their ships invisibility cloaks allowed them to land unnoticed behind a giant hill. None of them knew how long it would take before this test was over, but from their position they would know immediately when someone approached.

"So who is Komari Vosa?" Anakin said, while crossing his arms and observing the other man.

Dooku replied without looking. "She was once my padawan, when I was a Jedi. She like me had her eyes opened. But sadly she was too weak to embrace it, and it left her with mental instability."

Anakin nodded.

"Back on Coruscant when you fought the droids, I saw you favor form five, Djem So. Was there a specific reason you chose it?"

"Someone said it would fit me well."

Dooku raised a brow. "Well that someone was right, although you're obviously not a master yet."

"Perhaps you would like to teach me then?" Anakin said, still having his arms crossed.

Dooki smiled. "Perhaps I should…educate you."

After that the elderly man had them spar a bit, and along the way pointing out several things Anakin should try and improve. Anakin quickly realized that the elderly man was a duelist master; the man moved such grace and did not perform any wasted movements. He enjoyed the fight very much, even though he was outclassed.

The next two days, the two of them spent discussing the nature of the force and its capabilities. Also discussing the meaning of power, the view of power is clearly different depending on who you ask. Some associates raw physical strength as power, others think of status in society as power, and there were even those who believed philanthropy was the gateway to power. But of course, nothing was more powerful than the force.

Dooku was of the belief that all those who can't touch the force were lesser beings, too weak to affect anything and was thus forced to serve. Anakin had to agree with the man, the weak will always be ruled by the strong. But that was the natural order of things; weaker beings are replaced by stronger ones.

It was in one of these many discussions that a ship descended from the sky and continued towards the station holding Komari Vosa. Both of them gathered their things and began the walk towards the station.

It did not take long for them to arrive at the station, hiding their presence in the force; both entered the area. They could hear several explosions and blaster fire, somewhere further up ahead. Moving forwards both of then hid in the shadows, watching the mandalorian clad bounty hunter fight against a woman with a lightsaber. Anakin observed both of them; the girl was human of average height. Her pale skin had now taken a red dye thanks to her blood-red blade. From her stance, Anakin deduced she favored the Makashi style. The bounty hunter was just like he remembered, his armor was quite impressive and from the way he kept dodging his opponent's blade, Anakin realized he was skilled.

The fight went on for a while; none of them seemed to get the upper hand. But after sometime, the female force user was being pushed back. And in one stunning performance of acrobatics, the bounty hunter disarmed her.

The girl was on her knees, completely disarmed and had two blasters pointed at her, one on her head and the other on her upper body. "Are you going to kill me?" She wondered.

"No." The bounty hunter said, and lowered his weapons.

The girl let out a sigh of relief, but immediately dropped her jaw. She could feel her old master, but before she had a chance to respond, she found herself unable to breathe. Dooku stepped out of the shadows, holding his hand in front of him in the motion of holding a cup. "I applaud your performance bounty hunter."

The older man looked at the girl and smiled. Before crushing her neck with the force, releasing the force, the body fell to the ground. If the bounty hunter was shocked by the action, he didn't show it. Anakin felt it was a good time to let his presence known, so he stepped out of the shadows. The bounty hunters stance hardened, but was still relaxed, trying to be ready for anything.

"I did as requested and got the target. Now, where is my money?" The bounty hunter replied.

Dooku smiled. "This clip has the agreed amount." He then threw it to the man.

"May I ask your name, bounty hunter?"

"Jango Fett." The man said and then turned to leave.

Dooku got a stern look. "Perhaps I can offer you something more of interest, Jango."

Jango Fett stopped in his tracks. "Such as?"

Smiling Dooku began. "I want to use your body for a cloning project and I want you to train the army, I arranged for this test to find the most suitable person." Dooku lifted his chin. "I can promise you even more wealth should you agree."

Jango's lips pursed. "I am…interested. Though I have conditions."

Dooku smiled. "Follow us to my estate and we can discuss them there."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Three ships were approaching a large castle on the other side of Kholma, the castle was designed with distinctive pointed and thorn-like architecture, and it was located on top of a mountain spire. They all touched down on the landing pads and continued inside. Anakin saw many grotesque gothic statues depicting humans with large swords. It would seem he didn't have the same type of artistic view as Lord Tyranus.

It did not take long before they all came to a large oval table, Dooku sat down at the end to the left and Jango at the other end. Anakin decided to stay standing in between them. Both of them had drinks and they decided to give the other their own weapons. Anakin also had to leave his lightsaber, placing it at the other end of the table, opposite to him.

"You have made a generous offer, Tyranus." Jango began. "But I don' trust you or your friend here. You're a Jedi, and the Jedi once killed all my men."

"I know. I too was on Galidraan you know; it was a disaster for all of us." Dooku took a sip of his drink. "I was misguided then, and it was my last errand for the senate and the Jedi."

All of a sudden, Jango stretched both his hands forward and both his blasters flew into his hands. He immediately pointed one each towards the two force users.

Dooku was shocked. "How? You can't use the force." Both Dooku and Anakin summoned their lightsaber's with the force.

"I don't need the force; I have magnetic gloves and guns instead."

"You're clever; you will be excellent as the template for the cloning process."

Jango snarled. "I haven't agreed to anything, I have more demands."

Dooku smiled. "You are in no position to negotiate, you are both outnumbered and out skilled."

"Don't think so, because you are already dead. I planted a virus in your drink."

Dooku raised a hand to his throat, searching with the force. "Yes I can sense it."

Anakin was now alarmed; this meeting had gone to the worse. Thankfully he didn't drink anything.

"You will be dead within an hour, but don't worry; I have the antidote in my ship." Jango clenched his blasters. "Which has a self-destruct mechanism linked to my chest plate."

Dooku deactivated his lightsaber. "Well played Jango. I will give you what you want in exchange for information and the cure."

Anakin steadied his stance, planning what to do. Dooku must have sensed it, because he told him to do nothing.

"So, what information do you want?" Jango asked.

"I want to know what happened after the massacre on Galidraan."

The man began to tell his story, how the Jedi had captured him and turned him over to Galidraan's governor. Then he was sold as a slave and spent several years on a spice transport until pirates had tried to raid the vessel. After getting free, his sole purpose was to hunt down the man responsible for turning him into a slave. Then when revenge was achieved, did he become a bounty hunter.

"Now, no more history. If I don't give you the antidote you'll die soon."

Dooku smiled. "Not likely, while you were talking, I used the living force to cure myself from this virus. But don't worry; I will still try to grant you your other demands."

"I want an unaltered clone, with no growth acceleration and no behavior modification."

"That can be arranged." Dooku answered and sat up, stretching out his hand. Jango paused for a moment before shaking the man's hand, sealing the deal. Anakin was even more impressed with the man now; he knew the man possessed skill. But to take Lord Tyranus by surprise and hold his own was very daring. Now Anakin just had to find out what this cloning project was all about in order to understand today's events.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

AU

Longest chapter yet, both Palpatine and Dooku got some face time.

Please let me know what you think.


	13. Chapter 13: Bounty Part 1

**Becoming Darth Vader**

I would like to thank my reviewers, those who added my story to their alerts and favorites, and to all anonymous readers.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.

**Chapter 13**

There was only one world in the Sulorine sector that had something to recommend, its bulbous trees, circular seas, arable grassland that stretched to distant horizons. The outlying world of Seleucami had all those things. But what it had in abundance was factories, shipping out various medicines, botanicals, technology and finished goods. Seleucami was so rich in factories that three-quarters of the planets scant population was involved in these industries, employed either by Commasi Limited or by Kolsha Exports. Of course both companies were owned by the famous crimelord, Jabba The Hutt.

Most factories were placed on the sizeable grasslands. Commasi Limited's base of operations was in Seleucami's eastern hemisphere, and Kolsha Export's base of operations lay in the western hemisphere. These large grasslands had once been covered in ancient seas; most of them had since dried out. In many places, these ancient seas had created shifts in the planetary mantle creating huge tors from the land. These areas were crowned with wild vegetation, by trees and rocky mountains that blinded the sunlight, giving birth to beautiful waterfalls that reached thousands of metres.

But these areas of wilderness only existed outside the factory areas borders. Huge demolition droids had carved roads and paved the ground, and created two circular launch zones, large enough to fit in dozens of space shuttles. The ceaseless work of the droids was abetted by a workforce consisting of both humans and aliens; they were there to make sure everything worked as ordered. All agreed that sentient beings deserved more from life, than to spend their days inspecting droids. But the companies weren't prosperous enough to fully convert to droid labor, mainly because Jabba's cut of the business. But that didn't stop the workforce from dreaming about better alternatives.

Pacna Clos, Commasi Limited's chief of operations, had long dreamed of starting over somewhere else, of going out of this business and into something that could give him a new life. But such a move was years away and not likely to happen at all if he kept returning what little he made to Commasi Limited by spending his earnings in the company-run stores and what little remained on drinking and gambling.

He had worked for Commasi Limited for 15 years, and in that time he had managed to work his way up from the lowest position into a position of authority. But with the authority also came more responsibility than he had bargained for, and in the recent incidents of industrial sabotage his patience was gone.

The oven shaped control station in which Pacna spent the better part of his workdays looked out on the empty grassland and the shuttle launch and the landing zones. To the station's many video display screens came views of droid stations going up and down creating new shapes to the metal blocks that moved with the transportation route along with several other machines doing their specific work. Pacna worked with two others in the boxy control station, the three of them had become favorites of Jabba and had displayed qualities that pleased the Hutt. Pacna's two coworkers were fond of listening to music, but the music could hardly be heard over the unrelenting drone of machines and the roar of departing shuttles.

The walls of the control station were made of steel, thick as two pencils, whose triple-glazed panels were suppose to keep dust and gases out of the room, but it never did. The dust always seemed to find a way to seep through the smallest of openings. Thankfully the showers could remove the dust from their clothes and bodies. Not much happened out here on Seleucami, and one would think they all were just one big happy family, but they weren't. The recent incidents of sabotage had created an atmosphere of distrust, even among the laborers who worked side by side, day in and day out.

"Group one shuttles are loaded and ready, Chief." The human coworker reported.

Pacna directed his gaze towards the mechanized transports that were droid-guided and responsible for carrying the goods up the gravity well. Up in space the carriers inventory were transferred to Commasi Limited's flotilla of barges, which in turn conveyed the goods to different worlds along secret trade routes, often going to the distant core.

"Sound the go ahead." Pacna said while still glancing towards the transports.

The human coworker flipped a series of switches and punched a few buttons on the console, and the speakers began to hoot. All maintenance staff and droids moved out-of-the-way from the launch zone. Pacna removed his gaze from the transport to check the screens showing the shuttles if close zoom, trying to find anything out of the ordinary.

"The launch zone is clear." The Twi'lek coworker said. "The shuttles are standing by for liftoff."

Pacna nodded. "Send them off."

This was a routine Pacna had to go through several times each workday, often after sunset. The seven droid-guided shuttles rose from the ground on repulsor lift power, turning around and bringing their broad noses to the southwest. Beneath the shuttles the air rippled with heat. Approximately fifty meters above ground did the sublight engines start, rocketing the hips into the sky.

Pacna felt the ground shake slightly, and he took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. For the next hour or so he could relax somewhat. He turned away from the screens and then he felt his ears alert him to a shift in the roaring sound. Looking back at the screens, sudden apprehension clawed at him and his palms began to sweat. High in the sky he could see two shuttles were beginning to change course, their vapor trails curved away from the straight line of the other shuttles.

"It's eight and nine." The human coworker said. "I can't shut down the sublights, there's no response. They are picking up speed!"

Pacna had glued his eyes onto the two shuttles. "What is their current course?"

"Back at us!"

"Execute the self-destruct." Pacna wiped his forehead with his sleave.

The human coworker flipped several switches on the console. "The self-destruct doesn't respond."

"Use the emergency override."

The human sagged into his chair. "It's not working, the override is disabled."

"Give me their heading again."

This time the Twi'lek answered. "They're current course is directly to the western part of the area."

Pacna turned and looked over to the western part of the site, that part contained factories that dealing with finished goods.

"Order the evacuation of all staff."

The sirens began to shriek in the distance and within moments all personnel and droids were running out of the buildings.

"Twenty seconds to impact." The human said.

"Jettison the guidance droids."

A few switches later and the droids were away.

Pacna saw the two shuttles plummeting side by side towards the western part of the site, his coworkers had managed to shut off number eight's sublights, and nine's flared out while Pacna watched. Now the shuttles were in a ballistic freefall.

Everyone, droids and beings alike took cover behind different instruments; Pacna threw himself behind one of the desks and braced himself for the impact. The shuttles struck the buildings almost simultaneously, and the buildings disappeared behind a giant flare of light. It only took a few seconds before the resonant, crackling and echoing sound from the twin escarpments reached their ears. Large pieces of machines flew from the giant storm of fire and ash. A giant dust and ash cloud had formed over the sky, blocking out the sun.

Pacna steadied himself and saw the cloud reach the control station and blocked the view. He pulled himself up and checked if the other two was unharmed, which they were. Pacna made a long sigh, this was the third time someone had sabotaged their operations but this was by the most devastating. The loss of two shuttles was great, but to lose several factories as well, Jabba would definitely have someone killed for this. As he was in charge, much blame would be pointed to him for not being able to oversee and protect Jabba's property. If he wanted to be certain that he would come through this alive, he had to find out something valuable before being contacted by the crime lord.

The next day the cleanup had begun; Pacna observed the huge droids who were everywhere both cleaning up and trying to find something that could be salvaged. This incident would set them back for a while, as most other facilities had to stay on standby, not to speak of the cost to build new facilities. But he had his hopes up, soon the droids or one of the sentient crew would find the shuttles guidance droids and hopefully he would find a clue there to who is behind these sabotages.

Unfortunately the droids is most likely buried under several meters of ash and equipment, making the search more difficult. Meanwhile the search began, Pacna had decided to start going through the recordings of the entire day with his two coworkers in the control station. They had to find something to unveil this mystery, but it was a tedious task that didn't get them closer to finding the culprit. Everyone was where they were supposed to be, and no one had breached the sites security systems.

During their search several workers had come to visit, all wondering if they had found anything, there was one thou that came a lot often then the others. A man named Jass, it was a bit suspicious, but the man could just likely be the culprit as he was worried over the repercussions of not finding who the one responsible, if they didn't have any results soon then all of them could be in risk.

Pacna was pulled out of his current line of thoughts by one human worker who patted him on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry, what did you want?" Pacna pulled his hand through his hair.

"We found one of the guidance droids in the ruble, Chief."

Pacna stood up abruptly. "That's excellent, give it to me."

Holding the small droid in his right hand, Pacna nodded to the worker and waved with his right hand. After watching the human leave, he immediately began to inspect the droid. It had suffered very little damage but was covered with scratches and ash. He sat it down on his table and began to open it up; he had already prepared the necessary tools before this morning. He began by screwing lose the outer coverage, exposing the inner case protecting the core. The inner case was sleek and had no visible damage. Pacna inserted the tool inside the circular lines of the opening, turned it around and pulled up, exposing the small metal chip inside.

He carefully extracted the chip and closed the inner case. Wasting no time he connected the chip to his own computer terminal and fired it up. The computer immediately recognized the new device and booted it. Hopefully the culprit wasn't aware that they had installed a new security system a few days before, it wasn't better equipped to keep out any interference, but it was specifically designed to recognize and keep the data of anything that tried to enter its system.

Pacna pulled up the files in the chip and started a simple search program to find the files he was looking for. And he was shocked by what he found; someone had hacked in to the core and programmed it to deviate from course. He looked deeper in the file, trying to find a source code of the hacker. If the new system worked correctly, than the system should give the intruding signal a source code and collect information about where it originated. Pacna skimmed through the information and finally found what he was looking for.

Pacna dropped his jaw. "This isn't possible." His coworkers looked at him strangely; Pacna pulled his gaze from the screen and looked in between them. "This signal comes from…"

"Knock knock." The three in the room looked over to the origin of the voice and Pacna's eyes widened. "Resk."

The man known as Resk stood in the opening to the control station, his long blonde hair shifted when he looked them over. Smiling he pulled out two blasters. "I knew you would figure it out, I tried to hide my signal like always, but it would seem you updated the system." Resk's aim went between the three. "When I realized that it was too late."

Pacna felt the sweat on his forehead beginning to descent down his face. "Resk, you don't have to do this."

"Yes I have, goodbye." The three of them tried to duck under the tables but they barely managed to react before the light left their eyes.

Resk stood motionless in the door way with smoke rising from his blasters, waiting to see of anyone of them managed to survive the first shot. About ten seconds went by of complete silence before he went forward, still with his blasters aiming towards their bodies. He kicked each body a few times, but received no response. Resk let out his breath he had been holding in, and sheeted his blasters. He had taken care of his mission and destroyed the shuttles along with the factories, and now he had unfortunately been discovered. He was sure the security footage had caught him killing the Chief and his assistants. _I have to get out of here_, he thought.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Jabba The Hutt was furious, the news of the destruction on Saleucami had reached his ears. And immediately afterwards the large Hutt had flown into a fit of rage, none in the audience chamber dared to make a move or a sound, the court, the guards, crew, musicians, the dancing slaves and guests alike was frozen in fear. The ones dim lighted room with its festivities had more become a funeral ceremony with the risk that you become the deceased if you bothered the host even a bit. The fear and worry could be seen on almost everyone present, only few bounty hunters remained indifference.

Jabba was famous in these circles of having outrages when a big setback happened, and usually death followed. The giant Hutt was about four meters long and reached a height of 1.75 meters and he was well known to be greedy, prideful, malicious and pragmatic. Jabba struck one of the slave girls, causing her to fall down the pit that was located just in front of his pedestal. The thumbing sound of her reaching the ground was followed by a loud scream before everything went silent ones more.

It was the third slave Jabba had sent to die in the pit after hearing the news, and Bib Fortuna felt he needed to intervene. "Jabba, my lord. Please calm down or you'll run out of slaves soon."

Jabba directed his focus to the white Twi'lek and after a few seconds began to breathe heavily. The fury was still evident in his eyes but he no longer had the need to take out his anger on someone else. "Who did this to my factories?"

Bib took a step forward. "We have managed to acquire a security feed showing the culprit in action. The man is called Resk, and he has worked on Saleucami for about a year now." Bib paused for a second. "It would seem he killed Pacna along with the others in charge before escaping the planet."

Jabba's eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. "I leave it to you to find a suitable bounty hunter to take care of this and then bring him before me."

Bib nodded. "And how much should I put the bounty to?"

"I want everyone to know I want that man dead! Put the bounty 500 000 credits."

Bib's eyes widened. "It will be done, I'll return with the chosen bounty hunter." He then took his leave, moving upstairs towards the exit and passing several guards on the way while hearing music and voices talking again. There were several good bounty hunters out there to choose from, but he had someone special in mind.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Anakin Skywalker closed the tome he had just been reading. He had spent the time since leaving Lord Tyranus estate on Kohlma in the library on Begeren studying the ancient texts and he had expanded his knowledge surrounding ancient battle tactics. He headed for the training area, maybe he would find Garth there to spar with. He had sent of Ann and Tann on a simple mission and they probably wouldn't be back for some time. Anakin found Garth in the training room, drilling with his lightsaber.

Moving with total focus and concentration, Garth was a pleasure to watch. Anakin didn't want to disturb the man, so he remained in the side, waiting for Garth to pause. At last Garth thumbed his lightsaber off and stood erect. He glanced over at Anakin and grinned. "Anakin, finished in the library?"

Anakin took a few steps forward. "Yes, I've had enough for today. Want to spar?"

"Sure, but only if you want to get beaten."

Anakin smirked. "Ha as if."

They faced each other and saluted, then took position and thumbed their lightsabers to life. Anakin made the first move, a thrust that started high before plunging downward to dip under an anticipated high parry. The blades of the lightsabers sizzled as Garth easily deflected the thrust, laughing when he danced aside.

"You surprise me," Garth said mock-seriously. "It's such a basic move. I'd have thought you'd have some new ones since last time we sparred." He launched a flurry of thrusts and slices of his own; Anakin easily parried or deflected all of them.

"_Master_ Garth," Anakin said in a lecturing voice as they stepped back, "in a fight, one does not have the time to invent new maneuvers. The tried-and-true movements are usually the most effective." He reached out with his lightsaber to touch Garth's, then spun the tip of the blade in an unorthodox backhand that would have cut through Garth's left shoulder had he not stopped short- and had Garth failed to fall back out of the way in time.

"Very good, Anakin" Garth nodded with approval. "That was very close, I'm not sure if it counts as a touch or not."

Anakin grinned. "You don't have time to invent when you're in a fight, but you can improvise."

Then the both of them settled into a serious sparring.

The two lightsabers flashed and sizzled when the blades struck in thrust and parry. When first one, then the other found his way through the other's defense, the shimmering light stopped just short of striking. Their voices rang with pleasure at each skillful move. After an hour of sparring, they stopped and congratulated each other for a good session, both gleaming with sweat and both smiling.

Anakin wiped away the sweat with a towel and heard his gauntlet lying on the bench ring and vibrate. He went over to the bench and observed the gauntlet, someone was contacting him and he recognized the frequency, it was the one he gave to Bib Fortuna. He continued to pull the towel over his body before throwing it on the bench and walking to the communications room. He punched a few buttons on the console and stepped onto the holopad.

The giant white head of Bib Fortuna appeared looking bitter like always. "Ah my young friend. I have a proposition for you."

Anakin gave away nothing, letting none of his emotions show on his face. "Speak."

Normally Bib would reprimand anyone who spoke to him like that, but after interacting with the boy a few times he knew that the boy acted like that to almost everyone. And the boy had delivered every time he had called upon him. "There is a large bounty on a certain man, if you want to know more, then you will have to come to Tatooine and meet with Jabba."

Anakin thought it over, Jabba usually paid well although Anakin hated the fat Hutt. "How large is the reward?"

"500 000 credits."

Anakin's eyes widened. "I'll come as soon as possible." He watched the Twi'lek nod and then he disappeared from view. A large pay like this could only mean one thing, the target had pissed off Jabba in some way. Sure the Hutt had a temper, but he must really hate the guy to offer that much. To Anakin the reason didn't matter, now he had to take a shower and get ready for departure.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Standing outside the giant metal door leading into Jabbas palace, Anakin observed the funny looking droid peek through a hole in the door. The droid basically consisted of a giant eye on a steel stick; its only purpose was to see who was outside. The door itself had probably seen better days, several scorch marks and rust could be seen everywhere on it. Although the marks had begun to fade, they still showed the many battles that had took place here. Anakin was thankful he had his hood raised; the sand storms on Tatooine were both unforgiving and unrelenting once they had begun, and they could go on for several days. One of these storms had just begun to form when Anakin reached the palace.

The entire palace was made out of stone and metal shaped in circular forms at the top, and was located at the fringe of the western dune sea. Anakin remembered back to one of the tomes in the archive on Begeren, how the redeemed Sith Lord Revan had come here looking for some ancient secret. How the man had crossed the endless dunes of sand and finally come face to face with a krayt dragon. These mighty beasts were not to take lightly, as they could become 45 meters long and weighs about 2 tons. The krayt dragons were known for their great power and ferocity, so much in fact that the Jedi Order named two lightsaber forms after them, The Shien and the form Anakin favored, Djem So, who both had the meaning "The Way of the Krayt Dragon."

Apparently the redeemed Jedi had killed one of these beasts in his search, the beasts were often used to guard things of high value, but there wasn't any record detailing if the man found what he was looking for.

Anakin was brought out of his thoughts by the screeching sound of the large metal door opening; there were many straight marks on the door where metal had touched stone. The air smelled of must and he felt a tang in his mouth from the damp walls. He was greeted by two Gamorrean guards and by Bib Fortuna. The Gamorrean guards had large metal armor and thick animal pelts underneath it, both holding large vibro-axes with strange symbols carved on the shafts. They had thick snouts, close set eyes, tusks and two small horns on their head. In Anakin's mind, they were mindless and intellectually inferior beings, the fact they can't speak basic supported his ideology.

Anakin nodded to the white Twi'lek and they moved inside, the screeching from the door became more distant as they continued further inside. He felt as if he was inside a prison block, small doors made of metal bars where all over the sides, with guards standing posted outside all of them, all looking glum and half asleep. As they marched further inside the sound of music and talking found itself into his ears. They walked down a staircase and finally arrived at Jabba's audience chamber.

The room was dim lighted with sturdy tables and chairs along the walls, beings of many species conversed and drank various liquids. The music came from the other side of the room from a band consisting of five Bith. Several female Twi'lek was dancing on the stage and most of the men in the room observed them, the way they moved their bodies to the music could mesmerize many men. Jabba himself sat on his pedestal, holding a chain that was wrapped around a young girl's throat and enjoying the performance on the stage.

Bib motioned for him to advance and they both positioned themselves in front the Hutt. Bib bowed and walked up to stand beside the crime lord. "Ah so you are the chosen bounty hunter." He said more as a statement then a question.

Anakin pulled down his hood and nodded but remained silent.

Bib whispered something in Jabba's ear and then took a step to the side.

"You got Longo for me and Bib tells me you also have taken care of other problems for me." The Hutt pulled a bit on the chain forcing the girl to lean backwards. "The man I want dead is a human called Resk."

Anakin raised a brow. "Any specifics?"

"I offer you a datapad containing all the information I have on him." Jabba said while Bib walked forward and handed Anakin the datapad.

"And payment?"

The Hutt snorted. "500 000. Now go, you bore me." Jabba waved a hand in dismissal and fixed his gaze on the dancing Twi'leks.

Anakin raised his hood and walked upstairs again and continued his way to the large metal entrance. While waiting for the door to open, he skimmed through the information on the datapad's memory core. Resk was a man with long blonde hair and apparently had contact with three men now on Dorvalla in the Videnda sector. The man had been stationed on Saleucami for some time, working for Jabba. Hearing the large metal door open he walked out and he now knew exactly where he would begin his search.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Dressed in a lightweight utility suit and a dark-colored overcloak, its hood raised against the teeming rain, Anakin strode down the main street of the company town Lommite Limited had assembled in the midst of what had once been a trackless tropical forest. Beneath the cloak, he wore his single bladed lightsaber hooked to his belt, easily within reach should he have use for it. The gravity on Dorvalla was slightly less than what he was used to, forcing him to move with extra grace.

Lommite Limited was one of the two companies on Dorvalla that mined Iommite ore; it was used for transparisteel, durasteel, starfighter canopies, and dura-armor. The other competitor was InterGalactic Ore. Apparently the two companies had also suffered sabotage, and they both blamed each other. But Anakin knew better, the datapad he received from Jabba had information about Resk and his associates, which was rumored to be working in the area.

A grid of permacrete streets, the town was a warren of prefabricated domes and rickety wooden structures with many of them lacking transparisteel in their windows. Music came from the entrances of cantinas and eateries, and people of many species walked down the raised walkways. There was a routine with mix of aliens, humaonoids, old droids, and repulsor vehicles operating along four-legged beasts. The inhabitants all of whom worked for Lommite Limited or were there to defraud those who did, all show the same mix of enslavement and poverty that regulated the life on the Core worlds.

Unlike on Coruscant or any other rich planet, where beings hurried to and from places with determination, on Dorvalla reigned an atmosphere of purposelessness, as if the beings who were born here, or who had arrived for whatever reason, had resigned themselves to the depth. Like the bottom feeders on Coruscant, they seemed to be going through the motions of living, but there was no purpose or will.

Anakin became fascinated as much as he became disheartened. He decided appearances wasn't enough; he needed to see beyond it. The sounds of the surrounding forest played in his ears and the air was thick with heat and humidity. Anakin sensed many things as he continued down the street, the ongoing struggle to survive, the fights and flights, the interplay of life. The forest had brought a part of itself in to the town, because here lived beings that would have no problem with hunting and killing to get the sustenance they needed. Here there existed a base morality that the inhabitants could settle things as they wanted, without being stopped be peace keepers or by Jedi.

Anakin wondered if he would ever have come here if it wasn't for the bounty, or by an order from his master. He had not been raised to, but he believed that he was extraordinary, and he had gotten used to it. But sometimes doubt would drift in to his mind of its own accord, forcing him to think about it. Anakin removed the thought and fastened his pace. His training had allowed him to spot weaknesses of character in the beings he met, and he drew on his instincts to guide him to the best location for carrying out his mission.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Anakin stopped at the entrance of the loud cantina. This was a place where anyone who entered would be measured by the people within, so he moved with great speed. He slid onto a chair at the bar, still keeping his hood raised and his face in profile when the large muscular bartender approached.

"What can I get you, stranger?"

"Only water." Anakin growled.

The bartender wrinkled his nose. "A big spender, huh?"

Anakin waved his hand. "Bring me my drink and leave me alone."

The man blinked a few times. "I'll bring you your drink and leave you alone."

Observing the room, Anakin expanded his vision to take in the two rooms. He used the mirrors behind the bar to see what he could and the force for the rest. The cantina had a smell of alcohol and greasy foods, and the rooms were dim lighted. Children of different species ran in and out, and there were flying insects of different sizes flying around the illuminators. Music was provided by a band of Bith and an Ortolans. Along the length of the bar several different species conversed with each other.

Anakin sharpened his faculties, extending his rang of hearing to listen in to the nearby conversations. Most conversations held no value to him, there were about gossip, flirtation, complaints and diverse plans for the future. Then he heard the word sabotage, and his ears picked it up. The voice came from a booth to Anakin's right and it was spoken by a chubby human. Another human sat opposite to him, tall and dark. Both of them wore grey lightweight overalls that all security employees of Lommite Limited had to wear. But the lack of dust told him that they didn't work in the mines. Glancing over discretely, Anakin realized both men were in his datapad, associates of Resk.

Anakin took a sip of his water and observed a third man approaching the booth; the man was sturdy-looking and walked with a heavy step. Anakin heard the man say their greetings.

The chubby one smiled. "Come on, I'll buy you a drink."

The third man declined with a shake of his head. "Perhaps later."

The other two men were surprised, Anakin tried to listen in to the best of his ability. "Not drinking? Something serious must have happened."

The third man nodded and lowered his voice. "Resk has called a meeting. He wants us at his place in half an hour."

"Do you know what it is about?" The tall dark man asked.

"Not yet, but for him to call a meeting, it must be serious." The third man explained.

The other two nodded, "It must have to do with Saleucami, don't you think?" the chubby man said.

The third man put his finger over his mouth and made an Ssh sound. "Don't talk about that here."

A moment of silence came between them before one of them said. "Well let's take one round of drinks and then leave."

Anakin continued listening, but his eyes were now fixed on something on the well above the booth. The thing resembled one of the many tiny insects that were everywhere, but this one wasn't moving from its spot. Anakin probed it with the force and the reason became clear. It was a listening device; the device wasn't very advanced, the large size was evidence of that. He turned back to watch the mirrors, and focused his attention on the artificial flitter and screened out all other sound, the loud music, the conversations, the noises of glass clinking or being filled with some liquid. After a few moments he was able to discern the beeping sound of the device's transmitter, and now tried to listen for the receiver.

At the other end of the cantina, sat a Rodian and two Twi'leks at a round table, they were playing a game of sabacc. Anakin observed them for a moment. They didn't seem to care that much about the game, and he began to observe their facial expressions as the security agents continued to converse. Immediately when one of them said something of interest, the Twi'leks head-tails would twitch and the Rodian's short snout would curl to one side.

Anakin also observed an ear bead receiver inside the Rodian's left ear, and the Twi'leks had lekku tattoos, but at closer look they were disguised, hiding receivers on the form of dermal patches. They were either in secret employ of Lommite Limited's competitor InterGalactic Ore, or Lommite Limited had been secretly keeping tabs on their own security force.

Anakin observed the listening device and the security men, they probably was creatures of habit and occupied the same booth every night, completely unaware that everything they say is being recorded. If you were that careless then you deserve what happens to you. The three security men left the cantina on foot and resorted their way to a trail that wove through a dense stand of forest. Anakin followed them quietly from a safe distance, trying to keep to the shadows when the moon of Dorvalla illuminated the town as it showed itself. He had to stop once; the trio had encountered another group of beings and was now in the middle of having a conversation. From what Anakin could hear, it was work related and didn't matter to him.

The trail eventually led him to a tight-knit community of delicate dwellings; many were raised on stilts to keep them above the pools of water. The trio continued to a dwelling that was an elevated cube with metal roof angled to lead the rainwater to a cistern on the side. The only way to the entrance was by a stairway; in front of the dwelling a rusted landspeeder was parked, from the looks of it the thing was ancient and probably didn't work. Anakin waited until the trio was inside before he quickly hurried from the shadows and positioned himself under an open side window. He wasn't content with his current position, so he ducked under the house and climbed upwards until he reached the floor.

Anakin took out a small recording device from one of the pockets in his belt and placed it against the floors underside.

"So where is he?" One of the men said.

Anakin heard how they all began walking about the room; they seemed to be searching for something. "He was supposed to meet us here." The chubby man said.

"Let's just wait here for a while."

The sound of glass clinking and liquid being poured in the glasses could be heard along with several deep gulps. The men then continued to talk about non interesting things such as the useless work they had to put up with and different women they had met in the cantina. A full twenty minutes passed by before a beeping sound rang in the room.

"It's coming from over here." One of them said.

A few seconds later the sound stopped and Anakin heard a metal device landing on the floor and with it came a hissing sound along with blue light that slipped through the cracks in the floor.

"Resk, where the hell are you. We've been waiting." The chubby man said.

"I had problem getting out, my cover on Saleucami is blown." Resk said with worry in his voice. "But I managed to destroy the shuttles."

"Where are you now?" One of them wondered.

"Meet me at Lommite Limited's headquarters, top level." And with that the light disappeared and the trio upstairs began to move towards the exit. Now finally Anakin was close to finishing this mission, all he needed to do was follow them to the headquarters, wherever it was and confront Resk. He pulled away to recording device and put it back inside one of the pockets on his belt and carefully climbed down as the trio continued down the staircase

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

AU

Please let me know what you think.


	14. Chapter 14: Bounty Part 2

**Becoming Darth Vader**

I would like to thank my reviewers, those who added my story to their alerts and favorites, and to all anonymous readers.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.

**Chapter 14**

The day before.

Everything had gone as planned, he had been here on Saleucami for quite some time and no one suspected him. At first Resk had been excited by working for Jabba and the prospect of being richer then he could imagine and receiving respect. But sadly he had quickly realized that it wasn't so exciting, soon after he started his work for Jabba he had been relocated to this planet to oversee the construction of the factories. The money he made from this wasn't bad but it wasn't good either, and it quickly became a monotone job of keeping tabs on people and making sure everything worked as it should.

He had tried several times to bring up the chance of advancing in the organization by talking to the chief of operations Pacna. But the man told him he wasn't in any position to appoint someone a higher rank that was only handled by Jabba or Bib Fortuna. He didn't want to cause trouble so he left it alone, but the more time went by the more he felt he missed out on so many things. There were so many opportunities and options but all were denied to him. And then one day an agent working for Gardulla the Hutt had contacted him, the man had discretely given the point that Gardulla was always looking for agents.

Resk had of course been on guard, it could just as likely be a test to root out any traitors. But the more they talked it became clear that if Jabba didn't value his services, then others might. And so he had accepted a deal with the man to sabotage Jabba's investments on Saleucami, one job for Gardulla paid more than half a year's work for Jabba. It was hard in the beginning, Resk felt like everyone he met was onto him, but as time went on nothing happened. The agent working for Gardulla had put him in contact with three other agents who had missions on Dorvalla. They too was about to sabotage other companies, all to give a favorable outcome to Gardulla.

His first mission had been to destroy several machines inside the factories; because he had worked here for a long time he knew exactly where the security cameras were located which made it easy to plant the explosives. Several weeks later ha had been contacted with the goal to destroy a couple of shuttles, it was easy to get hold of the codes to enter the droid guided shuttles remotely and change their course. The damage done by losing the shuttles would cost Jabba dearly.

And now the third task was almost the same, only the trajectory was to collide within the area to cause further damage to the factories themselves. Just like before, he had hacked into the shuttle droids but too soon did he realize they had been upgraded with new security software. He had become so filled with worry and fear that he didn't think straight at that moment, without really thinking about what he did, he walked back and forth between his office and the control station were Pacna was located.

As time went by the thoughts of what Jabba would do to him if this got out filled his head and he was forced to take action. The way to the oven shaped control station was filled with security cameras, but it couldn't be avoided. He went up there and took care of the Chief and his assistants, it wouldn't clear his name but it would give him more time to escape.

He had just begun to descent down the staircase from the control station turning his head from side to side, searching if anyone had heard the shots. No one came rushing over and there was barely any sound at all besides his heavy footsteps. On his way out of the building he had probably been spotted by four cameras, but there was nothing he could do about that now. Resk stopped just before the exit and slowly peeked outside the door, his ship was located on the other side of the large area. He made sure no one was there and then quickly continued outside, looking frantically around.

Resk heard the sound a humming sound and it was approaching fast, and he cursed. Someone was heading to this location; he ran as fast as he could to the left and crouched down behind a large cylinder parked beside a booth. Peeking behind to side he saw several people going inside the building with the control station inside. Just my luck, he thought.

Backing away slowly he moved around the booth and down the side toward another large complex. After the recent sabotage there wasn't many people outside which worked to his advantage, but there was still security teams patrolling. He had just gone by the long length of the building when he heard the alarm sound in his ears; they had probably found the bodies in the control station. The feeling of dread clawed its way up to the surface, but Resk forced himself to continue his way towards his ship.

He was just about to move over to another building when he had to stop in his tracks and hide behind a large waste box. A security team had just pulled up in front of the building, Resk heard the men split up and one of them was coming toward his hiding place. He pulled out a knife from its sheath and took a deep breath, just a few more steps he thought. The guard moved closer, slowly, inspecting the area. Just as he turned his attention toward something on the right, Resk jumped out and jammed the razor-sharp blade cleanly through the man's throat, severing his vocal cords.

Without pausing he rushed over to the other side and continued down the length of the building. He was close now to his ship; he could see it from his current location. He made a dash for it; half way to his destination another guard came around from the back of the ship. He couldn't slow down now, Resk rolled on the ground as he launched the knife into the air, watching as it pierced through the guard's lightarmor.

Wasting no time Resk quickly fired up the engines and took off, hearing the sublight engines engage he steered towards orbit. As he passed through the veil and entered space, he punched in the hyperspace coordinates and disappeared.

Through his contact with Gardulla, Resk had received clearance to land on the Lommite Limited's landing platform on Dorvalla. As soon as he touched down he went inside the building and entered the elevator, Resk went off at the highest floor and moved into the only room on the floor. The communication device was on the right, a few seconds later the three security agents appeared before his eyes.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Anakin peeled the recorder from the floorboards and climbed down to the loamy soil below the house. He remained still for a long moment, crouched in the darkness, listening to the sound of the trio moving down the stair case. He let the trio get ahead of him before he ventured out of the shadows, the moon was now low in the sky and he continued to follow them to Lommite Limited's headquarters at the base of the escarpment. The building was on high alert because of the recent incidents of sabotage. Armed sentries, some accompanied by leashed beasts, patrolled, and powerful illuminators cast circles of light over the grounds. A five-meter-high electrified stun fence surrounded the building.

Anakin observed the trio greeting one of the guards and then continued inside. Anakin observed the movements of the sentries and the periodic sweeps of the illuminators and the motion detector lasers that gridded the broad lawn. He was sure infrared cams were scanning the grounds, but he couldn't do anything about them if he wanted to infiltrate the building without being discovered.

To test the possibility that pressure detectors had been installed in the ground, he used the Force to send stones over the fence. He waited for any kind of response when the rocks hit the ground, but the guards stationed at the entry gates simply continued with their business. When he was satisfied that he had but the security's movements to memory, he leapt straight up over the fence, landing precisely where some of the rocks he had tossed rested. He then continued to several other sites that ultimately brought him to the wall of the principal building, moving with such speed the entire time that whatever holorecordings were being made wouldn't show him unless they were played in slow motion.

Anakin reached one of the doors and found it locked, he worked his way around the building to test the other doors and windows, all were locked. Then he tested the building's flat roof for motion and pressure detectors as he had the lawn. Vaulting to the top, he was confronted with an expanse of solar arrays, skylights and cooling ducts. Anakin moved to the nearest skylight and peeked inside. What he found was four men walking, he recognized the three men from before and the fourth was his target, Resk.

He ignited his lightsaber and plunged the blade through the transparisteel panel and jumped down. The three men had become aware of his presence when his blood-red blade sprung to life and they had now managed to reach for their blasters. Anakin landed in a crouch and immediately had to block several bolts of energy. In the commotion, Anakin saw his target run out of the door and continue down the corridor.

Anakin leaped to his right and plunged the blade thru the chubby man, before rolling forward, just avoiding a bolt that would have hit him square in the head. Still in a crouched position, he saw the other two men taking cover behind some furniture and continued to fire. Anakin sprung forward and faced the tall dark man to his left and severed the man's hand, but the action proved to be a bad choice as he felt a powerful punch hit him in his back, causing him to fall forward.

He just managed to turn around and dodge his head to his side before a giant fist flew past him; this close ha was at a disadvantage. The other man was physically stronger than him; Anakin moved his right arm to make a horizontal strike but was blocked by the larger man. And he felt a rough large hand squeeze around his throat while his right arm was being held in an equally powerful grip. He tried to get loose but he simply didn't have the strength, Anakin felt fear, fear of dying, of failing. But that fear soon turned to hate, and the hate was focused in to anger. And just when the anger had swallowed him up completely, the infinite current of power swept him up and he focused it all into one place before releasing it.

A large shockwave echoed and propelled them both backwards; Anakin lay on the ground taking in large amounts of air in to his lungs, reaching up with his hand to massage his sore throat. Pulling himself up, he saw the large man on the other side of the room, the man had landed with his head through the large air conditioner that now created several sparks of broken circuitry. Anakin wasted no time to check if he was alive, instead leaped up to the roof through the broken skylight. Looking around frantically he couldn't see Resk, reaching out with the force instead he felt the man moving with an eastern bearing.

There was no point to pursuit him, instead Anakin used the force to increase his speed and continued to his ship. His target had to leave the planet, both the escape the local security and to get away from his attacker, which was why Anakin decided to reach his own ship. He focused only on increasing his speed and holding on to Resk's force signature; he felt his target reach his destination just moments before he did himself. The lift up to the cockpit felt like an eternity to him, he couldn't let his target escape now. Finally in the cockpit he flipped a few switches and he heard the humming of the engine, wasting no time he steered towards his target's location.

They were both now heading towards orbit; Anakin was just about to fire when he stopped himself. He couldn't hit the ship, not even to try and force it down, the risk was too great. If he killed the man now there might not be anything left of his body, and then he couldn't get the bounty. Instead he accelerated, coming closer and closer to the blue taillight the ship left behind, before finally catching up.

Anakin reached out with the force, trying to sense the man's destination and find only one word, Korriban. Before the ship disappeared from his view, he quickly punched in the hyperspace coordinates and continued his pursuit.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Anakin braced himself in his seat for the sudden drop of speed, the stars that had become straight lines of light began to slow down and the ship finally went out of hyperspeed. Immediately ha began to search with the ships sensors for the location of Resk, a large dot showed itself on his console and he began his pursuit. Anakin entered the atmosphere and began his descent; his field of vision was blocked by the enormous dark clouds that blocked the entire sky. Lightning bolts struck down all around him, and his ship shook by the strong winds.

When he passed through the clouds he saw Resk up ahead, but he was forced to divert his gaze onto his control board, the instruments were going out of control. Everything was flashing and beeping, and no matter what he did they refused to work, there must have been some interference with the clouds, he thought. Trying the controls he discovered he still could steer and the six solar ionization cannons were operating at full capacity. Anakin had to take the risk and shot down Resk's ship, he could be hit with a lightning bolt at any moment and then his ship would shut down.

Anakin fired away 2 beams of red energy towards his target, the beams barely missed when Resk forced the ship to the side. Anakin didn't relent and continued to fire beam after beam, and finally he hit the back left side of the ship. Flashes of the circuitry entered his vision and fire with smoke began to rise, the fire was quickly put out by the relentless rain but the damage was already done. He saw the ship steering towards a large complex hidden in the mountain, and going down hard against ground.

Anakin continued to circle the ship when suddenly the entire ship rocketed downwards, all the lights went out and none of his systems was responding. He tried to steer the ship as close to Resk as he could and braced himself for impact. The ship bounced off the ground and then skidded to a stop. He breathed out a sigh of relief; it didn't seem the ship took too much damage in the crash but he wouldn't know until the storm passed.

He took the lift down and opened the hatch, the thunderous sound and rain assaulted his senses. From his position he could see Resk's ship up above on a platform made of rock, just in front of the carved out entrance in the mountain. Jumping down from his ship, he almost tripped on the wet rocks. Moving carefully to a carved out staircase, he saw the walls being covered with large strange symbols, concentrating on them he realized they were Sith symbols.

From his readings of the Sith he hadn't come across anything even remotely like this complex. He was brought out of his thoughts by a large bolt hitting the mountain side above him, bending lose several large chunks of the mountain, and he just managed to throw himself forward, before they had descended down upon him. He breathed heavily, and stood up; the realization that he just escaped death was lost to him.

He managed to walk the rest of the way up, finally arriving to the ship, but no one was inside it. Observing the damaged backside of the ship, he recognized that no one would be leaving in this ship. He moved closer in a slow pace, the thunder in the sky blocking out almost all other sound. Just when he was about to open the ship he sensed danger, immediately he jumped backwards, not a second later the ship blew up.

Anakin landed hard on his side several meters away from the ship, thanking the weather for his wet clothes; otherwise he would be on fire right now. He glanced around for any sign of Resk but found only wet stone and the burning ship. Standing up on shaky legs, he took a few seconds to regain his balance and then continued towards the entrance to the complex. The entire entrance was carved in different symbols and figures, one figure he recognized as a Massassi warrior. The ancient Sith had come here and enslaved the Massassi people, and they were known for being fearsome and formidable warriors.

Another figure was of a female humanoid creature with several Massassi warriors bowing on the sides. There were several figures like this one but with different people in the middle. Perhaps this is a temple of worship, he thought. Moving inside he felt good to get away from the unrelenting rain and the deafening sound of thunder. The passage way inside was small compared to the entrance, it was probably made this way to defend better, he thought.

Once he passed through the small tunnel, he came out into a large hall with giant pillars that reached up to the roof. On both sides of him there was several statues resembling the figures he witnessed above the entrance door. The air of stale air and animal musk assaulted him along with the sound of wind whistling around stone. Anakin leaned against a wall and felt a fist of stone poke him in his back forcing him to leave the wall alone. Something in the corner of his eyes caught his attention, a small gleaming light on the wall; he ran his fingertip along it and realized it was a vein of some gemstone and it seemed to react to his touch.

Leaving the strange vein alone, he observed the rest of the room there was just one other exit beside the one leading outside. So there was no way Resk would be able to get out, unless he managed to overpower him. He wiped his face clean of rain water with the back of his sleeve and then carefully walked towards the exit leading further inside.

He couldn't understand how but there was light further inside and in the room he just left and there didn't seem to be any sign that Resk had something to do with it. Anakin felt bumpy stone on the wall in the passageway, with his left hand as he was holding his lightsaber in the right. The room before him had several collapsed pillars with Sith symbols on them and was also adorned with several statues. He moved slowly and quietly, trying to make as little sound as possible.

Anakin fueled his senses with the dark side to be ready for everything by summoning that unlimited well of anger he carried inside of him. Four flashes of red appeared before him and before he knew it, his body had moved to his left dodging two of them while simultaneously blocking the other two with his now ignited blood-red blade. Resk was now out in the open firing as fast as he could. His silver blasters produced beam after beam, most of them passed Anakin by when he dodged side to side.

Resk's giant necklace with different valuable items hanging from it, bounced from his chest as the man was forced to dodge his own returning beams. With Resk's unrelenting fire and their current positions made it hard for Anakin to advance. Anakin pushed a small stone and sent it towards the other end or the room, Resk's attention to it granted Anakin a few meters before he came upon fire, forcing him to dash forward.

With one fast flurry of strikes, both Resk's blaster was severed with their pointed ends now lying on the ground.

"I'll kill you Jedi!" The man screamed as he charged forward to strike with his fist. With the force heightening his senses, the man seemed so slow. Anakin pulled back and punched the man in the stomach before holding his blade just in front of the man's throat.

"Far better then you have tried, Resk." The sweat was dripping down the man's face. "You led me on quite the chase."

Anakin saw the man's lips tremble, his eyes widened and the beads of sweat on the man's lips and forehead trickling down. The man's breath was rapid and his voice stuttering. "Please I'll give whatever you want, just don't kill me."

Anakin's eyes hardened. "Sorry but I only need your head."

With a simple horizontal stroke, the light faded from the man's eyes and his head bounced off the floor. Anakin felt strangely satisfied by the ordeal, it wasn't because the man was dead but he felt it was something primal, he imagine that beasts felt this way after a successful hunt.

"Anakin Skywalker."

Anakin turned around, ready to strike whatever had said those words but found the room to be empty. And it wasn't as if he heard the voice, more like he felt it through the force. He decided to follow the voice, he used his lightsaber to light his way as he continued deeper into the complex. He reached another room and felt himself coming closer to the voice but he wasn't there yet. Eventually he came upon a staircase leading down to a dead-end, furthest in the back there was a triangular-shaped stone wall, about half his own size in length and width.

The entire walls was filled with ancient symbols of the Sith and he felt a darkness calling to his own darkness. Ones more he felt the voice say, "Anakin Skywalker."

Finally he came down to the small doorway and he put his fingertips on the surface, feeling the carved edges of the writing. As he did the feeling of darkness intensified, summoning the force he pushed it against the barrier. The barrier cracked before his eyes and then shattered completely.

Inside the small compartment there was a small light in the middle, a triangular-shaped box with the many symbols, this was the origin of the voice he felt. Crawling inside he stretched out his hand and took hold of the fist size box. As he did so the box resonated and a whitish blue haze of light appeared before his eyes. Gathering into a shape of a humanoid female with various tattoos and dark hair. Anakin held his breath in anticipation, unsure what would come next.

"I am XoXaan. I was one of the First of the Sith Lords, One of those who abandoned the Jedi Order to seek a darker path" The voice was filled with darkness but also understanding. "My tomb has lain in the belly of this temple for man ages, my presence hidden from those who sought me out, until now."

Anakin smirked while he continued to listen to the voice.

"I have waited for someone like you… someone who has seen the darkness and found out how lacking the galaxy is. Someone who has known anger, hate…and despair."

The humanoid gatekeeper closed its eyes and hummed. "I sense the shroud of the dark side on you, but there still are flickers of light threatening to deny you the unlimited power the darkness brings." The female gatekeeper opened her eyes and stared at Anakin. "My brethren and I invented what it means to be a Sith. Are you willing to open yourself to that truth?"

Anakin bowed his head forward. "Master, I am willing."

The gatekeeper smiled. "Darkness calls to darkness. It calls to you. You can feel it like a heart beating within this tomb and ones you accept it, the dark side is with you forever."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

To Anakin it seemed the teachings contained within the single Holocron would make him so much more powerful than all the teachings he could receive from the library on Begeren or from Garth, even his master himself. XoXaan had discovered and practiced many of the ancient rituals of the Sith, and as the Holocron's avatar explained their nature and purpose, Anakin could barely wrap his mind around their awesome potential. Some of the rituals were so dangerous that even a Sith Master would have trouble performing them. Yet he copied them onto the datapad he got from Jabba so he could study them later in greater depth, but not before erasing all the information on the datapad, he needed all the memory after all. He also needed to copy the information onto parchments and tomes later to make certain the knowledge won't ever disappear.

There were far more than just ancient practices of dark side sorcerers stored within the Holocron. In only two days he'd learned more about the nature of the dark side than he had in all his life. But sadly the gatekeeper refused to tell him everything about the knowledge stored within, it could still feel the flickers of light inside him and until they were snuffed out, the Holocron's knowledge was denied to him.

He had just finished copying a section onto his datapad; there was so much knowledge inside the Holocron that he probably would need weeks to copy that which was available to him, and then there was so much more. But for now he needed to return and collect the bounty and then continue back to Begeren, no doubt his master would be suspicious if he was gone too long. He powered down the triangular box and put it inside his robe, and then continued to his ship, as he had suspected the ship worked fine ones he had switched a couple of circuits and the storm had passed. He had already brought the head of Resk inside the ship and prepared his long journey ahead.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

AU

Anakin's journey took a leap towards the darkness in this chapter. I find myself forced to do a time skip again in the beginning of the next chapter in order for the story to go as I planned. So this will be the third long time skip in the story, but I can definitely say it's the last one.

Please let me know what you think.


	15. Chapter 15: Found

**Becoming Darth Vader**

I would like to thank my reviewers, those who added my story to their alerts and favorites, and to all anonymous readers.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.

**Chapter 15**

Begeren

Three years later.

"_Peace is a lie, there is only passion_" The glowing blue avatar of XoXaan spoke. "The Jedi would have you believe that peace is a desirable goal. That peace of the spirit is the way the force is mastered, that a lack of conflict betters man."

The female humanoid sneered. "We know different, it is our passion…our hate and our desire…that fuels the force. It is conflict that improves both civilizations and the single being. Conflict forces us to better ourselves. It forces change, growth, adaption…or death. These are not our laws, but the universe's. Without conflict you have only stagnation."

Anakin sat cross-legged in front of the glowing Holocron, listening and absorbing its ancient knowledge.

"_Through passion, I gain strength_" XoXaan recited. "What fuels your power but your passion? The stronger, darker emotions. Anger, hatred, fear…these passions will empower you. But beware of love, because it is more dangerous than all those things. Love can lead you to mercy."

This was the first lesson his master had taught him onboard the shuttle when they first met, of course he didn't realize that at the time. But now his eyes had been opened.

"_Through strength, I gain power_"

"The stronger you become in the force, the more power you will achieve. But you must always fight for your power. Without strife, your victory has no meaning. Without strife, you do not advance. Without strife, you will only find stagnation."

This lesson had given him a deeper understanding towards all the tests and missions his master put him through. He must always test himself, always improve.

"_Through power, I gain Victory_" XoXaan continued. "The only real victory is when you prove that your power is superior; all other victories are temporary at best."

"_Through Victory, my chains are broken_" Anakin knew all about chains. Some were obvious, the early death of his mother, the death of Kal Gesh's wife, being born a slave. Others were more subtle, the republic and its idealistic promise of a better life that never materialized; the Jedi and their vow to rid the galaxy of injustice.

"_The force shall free me_" The avatar recited. "The force is our servant and our master. Our teacher and our companion. A weapon, and a tool. Know it and you know the universe. Master it and you master the universe. Strive for perfection and the force shall reward you."

Anakin powered down the fist sized Holocron and watched its light fade away, it was during one of these lessons it began. It was like the bursting of a dam, a raging river flooding through him, sweeping away all his failings: his weakness, his fear, his self-doubt. In that instant he'd understood, at that moment his transformation from a mere mortal into a Sith, had truly begun. But he still felt the seeds of doubt and guilt inside him, only if he faced all his choices and disappointments would he be free.

He tilted his head from side to side, straining to work out the knots in his neck and shoulders. He finally rose with an audible grunt. Taking a deep breath, he exhaled slowly, reaching his arms up high above his head as he stretched to his full 1, 85 meters. He could feel the sharp _pop_ of each individual vertebra along his spine loosening. Satisfied, he lowered his arms and walked over to his nightstand beside his bed and swooped up his lightsaber. The hilt felt natural in his hand, strong and solid. Before leaving he strapped on his gauntlet onto his right wrist, he had the thing with him everywhere now days.

Walking slowly, he slipped out of his bedchamber and continued down the hall towards the training room. It took him almost a full minute to reach his destination, bare footed he felt the coldness of the floor creep up his feet. He ignored it as he ignited his lightsaber and began to practice the aggressive form of Djem So. As he moved through a variety of sequences, he felt his muscles groan in protest and heard the clicking of his joints. When he was satisfied his body had awoken properly, he began to pick up his speed. The air hissed as it was split time and again by the blood-red blade.

He had now become an imposing figure; his ruthless training had given him strong muscles and flexibility. At the age of sixteen he felt more powerful than he ever had. Anakin leaped high in the air and performed a chop downwards as he landed on the hard floor; the strike was powerful enough to split a being in two. Not stopping there he followed it up with several strikes, from side to side, from above his head and ended it with a thrust.

Taking a few deep breaths he was alerted to the glowing panel on his wrist indicating an incoming transmission, audio only. Slipping out of the training chamber he continued into the communications room. The signal was scrambled and had one of the highest levels of encryption known.

"Master?" Ann Gella's voice crackled through. "I have positioned myself close to Dal Perhi, as requested."

"Very good, Ann," Anakin nodded. "Did you have any trouble?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle." Ann's voice had the tendency to speak very quietly; it was the result of being a spy. She had the most talent in infiltration and the more delicate matters, while her twin sister took a liking to the more direct approach, which was violence.

"Eventually the seeds of mistrust will bring him to take action." Anakin explained. "When it does, your position will be crucial for our goals."

"Of course, master. I'll be waiting patiently for that time."

Anakin closed the comm, and then smiled. Their plans were coming along nicely and the first part, the infiltration of Black Sun, was now finished. His master would be pleased when he heard about it. Leaving the room he began to prepare for his journey to Coruscant and reminded himself to bring with him Tann.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

As he began his descent towards the Works on Coruscant, he began to think back to the lessons he had learned.

Through the knowledge the Holocron had instilled in him, he now had an understanding of the Sith language. Not many beings in the galaxy could understand the ancient language, and that knowledge had faded with time. But by learning it he had unlocked deeper understanding from the various scrolls and tomes he read. To Anakin, the most urgent reason for learning it was to understand and open the locked box he found all those years ago on Khar Ogun. Believing its hidden object within would grant him even more power, but he sadly found himself disappointed.

The symbols on the side had been both a warning and a riddle of sorts, and it did not take long before he could open the box. Its content consisted of a book and some jewelry. The book was light brown in color and had four small square metal plates in its corners with dark brown lines going between them, along with a large symbol in the middle. The tome seemed ancient and with fingers filled with anticipation did he open it. Only to find it lacking, it was a diary of the Nightsister who he had searched for. It detailed her reasons for leaving and her exploits in general, and only touched on the subject of the dark side.

As it were, the book was useless to him. But the irony of the thing became clear when he inspected the jewelry, specifically a long necklace with a giant red gemstone in the middle. When he put it around his neck, he found himself able to understand words of the Sith language he hadn't learned yet. This amulet was what he had wanted to search for in the first place to open the box. The one King Ommin was rumored to have had in his belongings long ago.

Now the necklace along with the other jewelry was lying in a small wooden box beside his bed, he kept it for its high value and to remind him that there will always be more than one way to achieve your goal.

He was broken out of his trip down memory lane by two delicate hands finding their way onto his shoulders, squeezing the tense muscles. He hummed in appreciation, after all these years of training and missions; he had forgotten Ann and Tann's previous occupation. The ministrations continued for several minutes before her slender hands began to descent down his chest.

Anakin took a slow breath. "That's enough, Tann."

"But you need to relax." She whined.

Resting her chin on his shoulder, he could see her pouting in the reflection on the transparisteel in front of him, but she stopped nonetheless. They both was content with their current positions and stayed there for some time, it was Anakin that broke the silence eventually.

"When we arrive, you need to stay on the ship."

"Come on, why can't I come. I'll be good." Tann said with a grin.

Anakin chuckled. "I know you would, but I need you to stay here and be prepared for departure. My master will probably have something for me do to."

"Why can't we go somewhere nice and just relax."

Anakin just shook his head, remained silent and began to focus on steering the ship. When he was close enough he engaged the repulsorengines and felt the ship touch down on the ground. Wasting no time he took the lift down and exited his Infiltrator ship, walking directly further inside the building. Turning down corridor after corridor until he entered a room to his right, inside his master was conversing with someone on the holoprojector. Palpatine waved for Anakin to come in and continued talking.

It was a plain room with just simple furniture, holoequipment and lacking any art whatsoever. The low level of light made the blue apparition stand out. When the man had finished talking, Anakin walked forward and dropped down on one knee with his head bowed.

"Master."

"Rise, apprentice," Palpatine smiled. "Now what news do you bring me?"

Standing up Anakin answered. "My agent has managed to position herself close to the target. We can proceed when you wish."

"Good good, Prince Xizor will be as pleased as I am."

Anakin nodded slightly in acknowledgement.

"Sadly I must inform you that the base at Begeren has been compromised."

"What!"

Palpatine nodded. "Yes, two Jedi have been sent to investigate. They need to be taken care of. Be sure not to leave anything of value, apprentice."

Anakin nodded, straightened and headed for the door. He was confident and his step was firm, he simply would not fail.

Tann watched her master approach and became worried by his stern and calculating look. He only had that expression when faced with a tough situation. A few seconds later and he walked passed her. "How did your meeting go?"

Anakin didn't look back. "We're going to Begeren, the Jedi have found the base."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Anakin sat in the cockpit and had his hands firmly pressed against the chairs armrests, feeling its soft texture on the palm of his hands. As he sat there he got mixed feelings, the base at Begeren had been his home for many years and now he could never go back there again. It was a place of comfort, but at the same time it was the place of many hardships.

Turning his head to the side, he looked over at Tann. "This will be a hard fight for you, Tann"

She also turned to look at him but remained silent.

"I want you to distract the younger of the two Jedi until I have defeated the other." Anakin gaze hardened. "They will be stronger than you and they have the force at their disposal."

Tann smiled. "Don't worry; I've been in tough situations before."

"Not like this. Promise me you will only keep them occupied."

"I promise."

"Good, use the surroundings to your advantage. The Jedi council probably sent a team consisting of a Jedi Knight and his Padawan." He turned his head back forward. "If we're lucky, the Padawan won't have much experience."

Coming out of hyperspace, the white lines of the passing stars turned back to normal and Tann steered them towards the surface. It did not take long before the rocky deserts in their light brown color could be seen from the sky. Anakin had his eyes fixed on the control board in front of him, trying to pinpoint the location of the intruders. After a few minutes a large dot appeared on the screen right above the base.

"Circle around the base then I'll jump down and hold them off until you come." He said before jumping out of the chair and exited the cockpit by taking the lift down. Removing his lightsaber from the belt, the familiar solid texture felt good in his hand. He let the black robe slip of his shoulders as he walked towards the hatch and then opened it. As he did, a great puff of wind came through the opening, the Jedi's ship was docked just in front of the entrance but he couldn't see them.

The ship began to circle the place once more and when he was certain there wasn't an ambush waiting for him; he jumped off the edge, using his power to wrap himself in a small cocoon to dampen his fall. Anakin rolled on the ground as he landed and swinging his head from side to side, observing the surrounding. Just when he was about to go inside, the two Jedi came out to greet him.

Their light brown robes bending to the wind, closest to him stood a female Gran Jedi, inspecting him with her three eyes. Behind her stood a young human male, the Padawan braid flinging aggressively behind his ear. In Anakin's eyes, the boy probably was just a few years younger than him; it would seem luck was on their side. Smiling, he activated his lightsaber and positioned himself into a stance.

The act immediately put the two Jedi on guard as they also revealed their blue blades, the older Jedi producing two blades from her double-bladed lightsaber. Anakin waited and observed their next move; he didn't have much experience with fighting against a double-bladed weapon. Before any of them advanced, several beams of red went towards the Padawan, who was forced to block. The Gran leaped towards him, her weapon moving with impressive speed. Parrying the first sequence, his opponent grunted in surprise and then steeped back to regroup. The Jedi had come in hard and fast, expecting to win the battle quickly, but was now forced to reevaluate her strategy.

Tann was relentless in her attack on the younger Jedi, from her position above it was easy to force the Jedi on the defensive.

A few seconds went by before the Jedi lunged in again, and the area was filled with the hiss and hum of lightsabers striking each other half a dozen times. Anakin would have been defeated if he tried to react to each strike individually. Instead he called upon the force, letting it flow through him and guiding his hand. Immersing himself in the dark side of the force, his weapon became an extension of the force, and his defense became an impenetrable wall stopping the Jedi's attacks.

Then he went on the attack. In the past he had always been afraid to surrender his will to the raw emotions that fueled the dark side, but now he went further than ever before. He drove the Jedi back with furious slashes, forcing her into a retreat across the landing pads. The Jedi flipped back to create space between them, but Anakin was relentless in his pursuit, leaping forward and striking through the Jedi's defense and knocking away her blade. With one more swing he was certain of victory, only to find a blue blade blocking his own.

The young Padawan had managed to save her master, but at a great cost. Anakin didn't waste any momentum, crouched down and swept away the boy's feet. The boy fell hard onto the rocky ground and just as he came to his senses, a blade pierced him through the chest.

Anakin breathed hard as he stood over the boy and watched his chest rise and fall for the last time. The sharp cry of the other Jedi forced him to lift his head; she had fallen to the ground and was not moving, several black scorch marks on her back. Looking up to the other side he saw Tann waving, he deactivated his blade and strapped it to his belt. Now when the fight was over he became slightly fatigued as the force and the built up adrenaline left his body.

The fight was over and they had won, but they couldn't relax yet. Soon another team would come when these two didn't check in, and before that happens, he and Tann need to clear the base. Crouching down he checked their bodies but found nothing of interest, walking towards the entrance he summoned their lightsabers and caught them both in his left hand. Pondering about the future as he caught them and moved through the entrance.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

AU

Please let me know what you think.


	16. Chapter 16: Enlightened

**Becoming Darth Vader**

Wow, it's been a while since I updated. I blame this on a little thing called life, and the university.

I would like to thank my reviewers, those who added my story to their alerts and favorites, and to all anonymous readers.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.

**Chapter 16**

The trip back to Coruscant went along all too fast; Anakin had been so lost in thought that he barely realized the ship had arrived. His actions on Begeren had changed him, and he felt great. He felt free for the first time in his life, there had always been something holding him back. A large and impenetrable gateway holding back a massive flood, but now in his mind the gateway was completely open and the full power of the flood coursed through. He felt more powerful, and his doubts had washed away with the flood. On autopilot, he punched in the coordinates for the LiMerge Power building.

Half an hour later he passed through the threshold of the room where he knew he would find his Master. Lord Sidious sat behind a large desk, inspecting a datapad with great interest. Anakin strode in with confidence and kneeled, waiting for his Master to acknowledge him.

"Welcome back, apprentice." Sidious ordered him to rise with his hand. "I take it your assignment was successful?"

"Yes, my lord. I left nothing that could be traced back to us."

Sidious grinned. "And the Jedi?"

"Dead, both of them."

"You have done well, two Jedi less in the galaxy to worry about." Sidious grinned as he closed his eyes and focused. "I sense a change in you, apprentice."

Anakin relaxed. "Yes, I feel stronger than I've ever been." On instinct, he summoned all of his anger and let it flow through him completely. "It's intoxicating."

Sidious eyes widened in disbelief, it was like staring into the heart of the force. _So much power and still so young._ He could not help but notice that Anakin's normal blue eyes began to change into a more luminous, sulfuric yellow. And he began to chuckle, _everything is proceeding as I have foreseen._

"You have come a long way since I found you on Tatooine." Sidious almost purred. "There is much anger in you. That is good, but anger in itself is not enough. Anger must be focused if it's going to be used, it must be made into a weapon as controlled and deadly as a lightsaber. Or it can be used against you, remember that."

Anakin let his anger go and nodded; the avatar of Xoxaan had said something similar during one of his sessions with the holocron. _A lesson I won't easily forget._

"The Grand Plan will soon come to fruition." Sidious informed. "And Lord Tyranus has expressed an interest in your services."

_Finally,_ "If I may be so bold as to ask, I know our goal is to destroy the Jedi, but how will it be accomplished?"

"There will be war soon." Sidious pointed to Anakin. "You will help Lord Tyranus in rallying more systems to our cause."

Anakin's eyes narrowed. "War? Whit what army? The droid army of the Trade Federation won't be enough to win against the Republic."

"Report to Lord Tyranus," Sidious grinned. "He is currently orbiting one of the moons in the Kalee System."

Anakin nodded. "As you wish, my Master."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Obi-Wan stood quietly in the Jedi Council chamber, encircled by the Masters of the Order. Beside him stood Bene, his new Padawan learner, a young human female of fifteen years. The highest-ranking members of the Order were all present; Obi-Wan had never been comfortable in their company. He knew that several of the Jedi Masters sitting before him now had expressed their concern with him being allowed to train a Padawan. The main concern was that he still hadn't got passed the emotional trauma of losing his own Master on Naboo. Even thou he in the end were allowed, a few continued to hold on to those doubts.

"Welcome back Obi-Wan, Bene." Mace Windu said. "Did you find out what happened to Marks Leem and Whie Malreaux?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "Sadly, yes. They were killed."

As the words passed his lips, some of the Masters began to whisper to each other. Mace Windu turned his head and met the gaze of Master Yoda before waving his hands; soon afterward it was quiet again.

"So the information we received was correct." Mace stated.

"It would seem so, Master." Obi-Wan nodded. "We brought them back with us, cargo bay B-42."

Without waiting for a response, he continued. "Judging by the wounds on Marks, it would appear she was killed by a lightsaber."

"It's possible then, that the boy you met on Bimmisaari was there?" Mace inquired.

"Possible it is, and most troubling." Yoda added. "That defeat a Jedi of Marks skill, he can. Dangerous he has become."

Mace nodded. "And Whie?"

"Killed by blaster fire, Master." Bene butted in before Obi-Wan could answer.

A long silence passed, all individuals in the chamber lost in thought.

"Track down this Dark Jedi, you must, Obi-Wan." Master Yoda finally said.

"Most importantly, find out if he has any connection to the Sith." Mace Windu added. "It won't be long before the Sith take notice of him, if they haven't already."

"What about our anonymous informant?" Obi-Wan asked. "We still need to find him."

"Handle that, your Padawan will."

Bene felt her heart soar at Yoda's declaration, both because of the confidence shown in her, and also because she could do this assignment on her own. She was about to give an answer, but Obi-Wan had her arm almost immediately and guided her out of the chamber.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Something felt off as Anakin stepped down the Infiltrator's boarding ramp and into the main hangar bay of the Providence-class Destroyer _Lucid Voice_. The carrier, a newly constructed war machine belonged to the Trade Federation. It was an impressive sight, with a length of two kilometers and roughly 3 000 proton torpedoes. About a month ago, Lord Sidious had informed him that the information he collected from Kal Gesh all those years ago had been used in creating this particular ship. In Anakin's eyes it truly was a splendid sight, but that nagging feeling did not disappear as he stepped through the blast doors and into a corridor.

Four B1 battle droids were stationed outside the doors, these droids were the backbone of the Trade Federation Droid Army and they had almost an unlimited supply. From Anakin's point of view they were useless, they were flawed when it came to thinking and utilizing combat skills, their only advantage were to overwhelm their enemies through sheer numbers. As Anakin was escorted by the droids towards the bridge, he realized the source of his discomfort. Sending out a probe through the force, realization hit him. He sensed only two beings on the entire ship, one he clearly recognized as Lord Tyranus, the other was unknown to him. And there was the source of his discomfort, everything else was simply dead to the force. It was by no means news that technology and droids were dead to the force, but to be surrounded by it would take some time to get used too.

It did not take long before he entered a large observation chamber; further ahead several droids scanned their sensors over tactical displays. The room had a wide view of surrounding space and a currently unoccupied briefing table. The elderly man stood at the opposite side of the table, observing several droid starfighters through the transparisteel viewport.

"You summoned me, Lord Tyranus." Anakin said as he walked up to the elderly man and stood beside him.

"Ah, young Skywalker." The aristocratic voice of Lord Tyranus rang across the chamber.

"I'm not so young anymore." Anakin stated.

Tyranus grinned, recognizing the underlying threat. "Indeed, you have become capable. But be careful you don't bite off more than you can chew."

Anakin nodded under his black hood.

"Now, as to why you're here. Are you familiar with San Hill?"

"Only in hearsay, he's a Muun and the chairman of the InterGalactic Banking Clan."

Tyranus nodded. "More importantly, he's a big supporter of our cause." The elderly man turned his head to look at Anakin. "How much do you know about our plans?"

"I've not been as privy to Lord Sidious's plans as I'd hoped." Anakin admitted.

"Then let me enlighten you." Tyranus said as he turned and walked over to one of the holoprojectors. A few seconds later an image of the galaxy appeared, showing territories in red, blue and green.

"As you know, the Republic controls the larger part of the galaxy." Tyranus grinned. "But that is about to change. Red markings are systems who has pledged their allegiance to our cause."

Anakin took several quick steps forward, with his mouth open. "This is several thousand star systems."

"Correct. This is the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and it's just the beginning."

Anakin stood silent for a moment, taking in the magnitude of what he just learned. Then he spotted something. "I can't help but notice that the Muunilinst system is not among our territories."

"That's why we're both here actually." Tyranus informed. "I have some business on Kalee, and you will help Chairman Hill with a small problem."

"Which is?"

"Some Neimoidian spies on Esseles have reported that fifty droid star fighters along with a prototype hyperdrive engine have been seized by Dashade pirates. These fighters are Trade Federation property and were meant to be in service of Chairman Hill."

Anakin nodded but remained silent.

Tyranus handed a data card to Anakin. "This card will enable you to control the droid fighters, go to the Esseles system and track the pirates. Retrieve the fighters if possible or destroy them if you must. I'll let you deal with the pirates as you see fit, but the Dashade must be discouraged from such behavior in the future."

"It will be done, my Lord."

After leaving the observation chamber, Anakin went directly to the dimly lit hangar where he stationed his starship. Twenty-six-and-a-half meters long, the shovel-nosed, knife-edged ship had at first been a Star courier manufactured by Sienar Design Systems. The entire vessel had been extensively customized by one of Lord Sidious's previous apprentices, who he did not know, and now Anakin had customized it to suit his needs. It was called the _Scimitar_.

The vessel had six low-profile laser cannons, sophisticated sensor and tracking systems, and a class 1.5 hyperdrive. For sublight travel, it was equipped with an experimental high-temperature ion engine system that required large, retractable radiator panels that folded in during landings. On the port side, a cargo drop panel contained numerous weapons, Sith "dark eye" probe droids, and Anakin's speeder bike. Then of course there was the cloaking device. Contained within the ship's long prow, the generator enabled the entire vessel and its contents to vanish or rematerialize with the ease of a shadow.

Anakin walked to a ramp that extended from the rear of the Infiltrator to the hangar floor. At the bottom of the ramp stood one of his early creations, the golden plated protocol droid, designated C-3PO. Some ways back, he had lost his temper with the annoying droid and smashed it into pieces. Now rebuilt, the droids body contained ninety-two concealed weapons, which Anakin knew the exact location and function of all of them. An upgrade to the photoreceptors allowed the droid to see in infrared, giving its "eyes" a red hue. Since C-3PO had nothing to report, the droid remained silent. Anakin despised unnecessary communications and had reprogrammed the droid to only speak when absolutely necessary.

He swept up the ramp and into the vessel, followed by the clanking footsteps of C-3PO. Inside the _Scimitar's_ control room, Anakin readied the ship while C-3PO strapped itself into one of the passenger seats. The engines fired up and Anakin piloted the vessel out of the hangar, then up and away from the _Lucid Voice_. He punched in the coordinates for the Esseles system into the navicomputer and let the _Scimitar's_ autopilot take over while he checked his armor for any damages. He found none. Anakin had never fought a Dashade before, but that was about to change.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

AU

Please let me know what you think.


	17. Chapter 17 Trail

**Becoming Darth Vader**

I would like to thank my reviewers, those who added my story to their alerts and favorites, and to all anonymous readers.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.

**Chapter 17**

The _Scimitar's_ hyperspace journey from Kessel system to the Esseles system passed without any incident. Anakin had used the time to install the droid starfighter data card into the main computer. Taking a firm grip on the controls, Anakin steered towards the planet Esseles and activated the vessel's powerful scan-mode sensors. The sensors sent out pulses in all directions, receiving information from the entire sector. He tuned the sensors to search for and track any objects moving away from Esseles. To further narrow the search, he transmitted a request for identification profiles from all starships.

A monitor to his left beeped and displayed the collected information; the list contained thirty-four starships with their respective distances from Esseles and their current sublight speeds. Apparently it was too much to ask that someone would declare themselves pirates with stolen Trade Federation property, but he was not surprised however when only thirty-three starships automatically responded with their ID signatures. According to the _Scimitar's _navicomputer, the unknown vessel was still in the Darpa Sector traveling on a direct path towards the planet Chandrila. At the moment the vessel had reached the Ralltiir system.

The _Scimitar's_ sensors could not determine if the distant vessel was the Dashade pirates, but Anakin would soon find out. He plotted the course for the Ralltiir system and launched the ship into hyperspace. Anakin swirled in his seat and faced C-3PO, the droid remained seated on the other side of the bridge.

"Tell me what you know about Ralltiir"

C-3PO tilted its head to the side before he replied. "Ralltiir is the only planet in Darpa Sector that has maintained independence from the political control of Esseles and it's a neutral world. It's particularly famous for its powerful financial institutions along with their security and confidentiality."

Anakin nodded his head. "And what do you know about the Dashade?"

"They are tall reptilians with dark skin, lamprey mouths, and powerful claws. They are partly force-resistant and somewhat resistant to radiation, because of this they are particularly suited to fight Jedi."

A flashing warning light appeared on a console on Anakin's left side, a few seconds before the vessel decelerated and reentered real space. Through the viewport, he observed the planet Ralltiir. But the unknown ship was nowhere in sight. The sensor screens presented the vessel's last known coordinates and its last flight path. An invisible trail of charged particles led towards the planet Ralltiir, caused by the vessel's sublight engines. Anakin piloted the _Scimitar_ towards Ralltiir and pushed the ship into the planet's orbit.

"The pirates have stolen fifty droid starship fighters and a prototype hyperdrive engine." Anakin informed C-3PO. "The sensors show that the pirates have changed course for Ralltiir, probably because they intercepted my long-range scan."

C-3PO's photoreceptors blinked as it processed the newly acquired data.

"I have informed you of this because you might be required to run interference."

C-3PO's receptors blinked again. "I calculate a high probability that this is a trap, Master. It's unlikely that the pirates think they can hide from us, and if they suspect a pursuer then a trap is logical."

"Of course." Anakin replied as he gripped the controls and steered the vessel into a fast descent towards Ralltiir's surface.

"How will you proceed, Master?"

Without looking at C-3PO, Anakin replied. "I'll wait until their guard is down."

A moment of silence passed before the droid asked. "When will their guard be down?"

"After I've let them catch me."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The life of a Jedi was not a glorious one. For thousands of generations, the Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice in the Republic. Bene still had one of her master Obi-Wan's recent lessons fresh in mind.

"_Remember padawan, a Jedi fights only as a last resort. A Jedi trust the force and always search for other ways to resolve a problem. Patience, logic, tolerance, negotiation, persuasion and calming techniques are most important. If you are forced to draw your lightsaber, you have already lost a great advantage_."

Right now it was the patience and logic part she had trouble with; life had been so much easier when you only had to rely on your lightsaber to solve a problem. The council had tasked her with discovering the unknown informant who had alerted them to Begeren. Bene felt conflicted, she felt happy for having a mission of her own, and frustration for hitting a dead-end. Seven, that many times had she thought of going to one of the Masters in the Jedi Temple for help. But she didn't, determined to finish this from beginning to end by herself.

The datachip had been delivered directly to the Jedi Temple; this was why she had begun her investigation at the Temple Security Station. Hoping to catch whoever delivered it on the security monitors. It had been a droid, RA-7 to be exact. It was humanoid in shape with an insectoid head, similar in build to the 3PO-series. Tracking down to droid had not been difficult; it had self terminated just a few blocks away from the Temple. All data in its processor had been erased, leaving only worthless scraps of metal.

For the last hour she had sat still, fiddling with the chip and staring at it. As if she stared hard enough, it would reveal a hidden mechanism that would solve everything.

It didn't.

She stood up and was about to do what she had refused to do earlier, asking for help. When a light bulb entered her mind and she knew what to do next.

Bene still needed to see her Master, but not because she needed help.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Au

I do apologize for not updating this for a very long time, but I really don't know where to go with this story anymore. I need new ideas for where to take this story, and then I might be able to continue writing this. So if you have an idea, tell me about it. And I might just write that.


End file.
